


Cancelling the Apocalypse

by LunarIllusion



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim, Established Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), M/M, Marshall Shiro, Ranger Keith, Ranger Shiro, all the lion pilots are rangers, broganes, eventual Klance, ranger lance, violence is on par with what you'd expect from Pacific Rim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2020-09-24 01:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 62,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20350111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarIllusion/pseuds/LunarIllusion
Summary: When Shiro loses his arm in a fight against one of the many kaiju hellbent on destroying the human race, a guilt-ridden Keith leaves the PPDC. Two years later, Shiro arrives at his front door to ask him to come back, believing that he might be drift compatible with another ranger who recently lost his partner.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1, here we go. Thanks to my two betas who have helped me with everything from catching a tense change to deciding a title.

“Lion’s Roar, Lion’s Roar. Report to launch bay.” Controller Iverson’s voice crackled urgently over the loudspeakers in the training center. Two rangers, both stretching down on the mats, looked up at each other as he continued. “Movement in the breach. Category 3, code name Scavenger. Prepare for immediate launch.”

Keith was the first to break eye contact, turning his head to look at the nearest holo-screen and getting to his feet. Shiro followed after him and the pair studied the screen as they pulled on the jackets they’d discarded before starting their workout. Scavenger’s trajectory had it going towards Seattle, with expected landfall in three hours. 

“Are they sure this one’s a three?” Shiro commented, looking at the rendered model of the kaiju. “It looks a lot bigger than normal.”

“What? Are you scared?” Keith asked him, giving his shoulder a shove.

“Repeat. Lion’s Roar, report to launch bay and prepare for immediate launch.” Iverson’s voice echoed again over the loudspeaker and Shiro turned away from the screen.

“Not on your life,” he said over his shoulder, already a couple of yards ahead of his brother. 

Keith caught up to him in half a dozen strides, and they quickly fell into sync as they left the training center and made their way to the launch bay. Another launch announcement, that time for Lion’s Pride, echoed through the corridors as they went.

Even without her head attached, Lion’s Roar stood at a massive height of 230 feet, and as Keith and Shiro arrived in in the launch bay, they immediately stepped into an elevator by her feet. It rose quickly, and Keith smiled as they passed by her left arm, where the weathered black paint was decorated with five red lion’s heads.

“They’ll have to add number six after tonight,” he commented, and Shiro grinned beside him. “We’ll be legendary defenders of the world.”

“You shouldn’t get too cocky, Keith,” Shiro chided, but the smile didn’t fall. “But I do hope you’re right.”

They lapsed into silence as the elevator continued to rise, finally coming to a stop after another fifty feet. The safety bar lifted to let them into the prep room and the jaeger techs immediately set to work, helping the pair of rangers get into their drivesuits. It was only a matter of minutes before Keith was following Shiro into the conn-pod inside the head of Lion’s Roar and the door was closed behind them.

Together, they connect to their control rigs and start the preparations to begin the drift.

“Good evening, rangers,” Controller Iverson greeted through the radio as their systems booted and came online. “It’s a rough one out there tonight. The weather’s bad and looks to be getting worse, so be careful out there.”

“Are you sure this one’s just a cat three?” Shiro asked him.

“It is,” Iverson responded. “Sam triple checked it. It’s a big son of a bitch, but it’s definitely a three. We’re going to have Pride at the miracle mile in case you need backup. They’re suiting up now.”

“Good, they can watch us get our sixth kill,” Keith commented. Even outside of the drift, he could practically feel Shiro smiling beside him.

“Put your money where your mouth is, Kogane,” Iverson told him. “Starting the drift sequence.” Keith closed his eyes, waiting for the jerking feeling that always came with entering the drift. “Three…two…one.”

It felt like being jerked backwards into a pool, even if his body never moved. The first few times he and Shiro had drifted, he’d almost been pulled in by the snippets of memories that rushed between their joined minds. More of them were shared than separate, thanks to spending most of a lifetime together as brothers. Maybe that’s what made it easier for them to not “chase the rabbit” as it was often called. After a couple years of practice, it was second nature to them.

“Link established, holding steady,” Iverson confirmed. “Prepare to drop.”

Keith and Shiro tensed up at the same moment, just seconds before the supports holding the jaeger’s head released and they plummeted downwards. Fifty feet down, their fall was cushioned by the hydraulics in Lion’s Roar’s shoulders, designed to catch and secure the head with minimum impact. In seconds, they were securely attached and the transport platforms started rolling forward. The hangar doors opened to pouring rain.

“Woah, Iverson wasn’t kidding,” Shiro commented. “It’s bad out here.”

“Hopefully the visibility will improve farther out,” Keith replied. “If not…”

“Infrared.” They said it together. A look to their right showed Lion’s Pride powering up, and it wouldn’t be long before the second jaeger was following them out of the hangar doors.

Once Lion’s Roar was clear of the hangar, Keith and Shiro heard a loud clang that confirmed the long, thick cables attached to the transport helicopters had been attached and locked into place. Just moments later, they and the jaeger were being hoisted high up into the air.

Keith and Shiro were mostly silent as they waited to reach the drop point, but Keith could feel his brother’s unease. Their hope that the storm would be less severe as they got farther out had ended the moment it had instead gotten worse. The rain was coming down so hard that it could be heard over the noise of the jaeger’s machinery, and some of the waves were so high that they touched the feet of the massive robot as the helicopters struggled to continue piloting forward. 

“Bastards picked a really shitty night for this, didn’t they?” Coran’s voice crackled over the radio system.

“Iverson, are you sure we shouldn’t be headed out there as well?” Alfor asked. “In these conditions, two might be better than one.”

“The Marshall wants you at the miracle mile, so that’s where you need to stay, Pride,” Iverson responded.

“Don’t worry, Alfor,” Keith told him. “We’ll be just fine.”

“Ten seconds to drop,” Iverson told them. “Scavenger is a mile out from your position and is moving fast.”

“Then I’d say it’s time we slowed it down,” Shiro responded. Keith could still hear the concern in his voice, but he could also feel his brother’s anticipation. All three of the jaegers in the Voltron Unit had five kills, and even if it was only for a little while, they’d be the first to get their sixth.

“Detaching in three, two, one.” On Iverson’s count, the helicopters released their hold on Lion’s Roar all at once, and Keith and Shiro braced themselves for the landing. The impact with the water created a small wave, but it didn’t begin to compare to the monstrous waves that surrounded them. Normally, the water would come up around the jaeger’s waist, but with the storm, waves were reaching as far up as the shoulders.

“Fighting this thing in this weather is not going to be easy,” Shiro commented as he and Keith raised their arms simultaneously to shield the face of Lion’s Roar as a wave crashed into their front. “Visibility is little to none and every single one of these waves threatens to push us off balance. 

“Let’s switch it to infrared,” Keith suggested. “That’ll help us see it coming.” Shiro nodded and reached up to adjust the display on the control panel in front of him. Immediately, their direct view through the jaeger’s visor was overlaid with an infrared display.

“Half a mile and closing,” Iverson announced. “You should be able to see it any minute now.”

“It’s on our radar, but no visual yet,” Keith responded.

Another minute passed, and still there was no sign of the kaiju aside from the mass on their radar that showed it getting closer. The brothers exchanged a glance and a nod, and in two fluid motions, they activated their dual chain swords and settled into a defensive stance.

The rain thundered against the metal of Lion’s Roar as they waited, looking for some sign of Scavenger.

“I don’t understand,” Keith commented. “Scanners say it’s right on top of us. Why isn’t the infrared picking anything up?”

“You don’t think-” Shiro cut into a yell as something slammed into the front of Lion’s Roar, toppling them backwards and into the water.

“Iverson, this thing can change its body temperature!” Keith shouted. He knew exactly what Shiro had been thinking before they were hit, and the hunch was right.

On his right side, Keith could see Shiro frantically working the controls to turn off the infrared sensors, and the moment he finished, they could immediately see the massive kaiju that had slammed them down onto their back. One of its front legs had their right arm pinned down, the claws digging in. Its strength bent and pierced the metal with a metallic screech.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted. “Left sword!” Keith nodded and together, they thrust the sword at the end of their left arm into the side of the kaiju, just above the heavy armor that covered its chest and stomach. It screamed out in pain as the blade left its body, rearing back and giving them room to swing at it again. They clipped one of its legs, and it flailed backwards in pain. Taking their chance, the brothers rolled into a standing position, and Lion’s Roar rose back to its full height.

Even through the storm, they could fully see the kaiju now. Much like the rendering they’d seen back at the shatterdome, it had a hooked beak and great leathery wings attached to its front legs.

“We need to aim for the wings,” he told Shiro. “Keep it from getting airborne.”

“Our right arm is damaged, but functioning,” Shiro reported quickly. “Let’s return the favor.”

The kaiju lunged at them again, but they were ready this time and with two quick strikes, they severed Scavenger’s arm at the elbow and tore a gaping hole in its wing on the same side. However, the attack did not stop the monster completely and it latched onto their right arm again with its beaked mouth. As it bit down, they realized it had teeth just in time for it to bite through completely. Shiro cried out in pain as Lion’s Roar’s right arm was torn clean off, but he grit his teeth and pushed past it as he and Keith began charging the plasma cannon.

The kaiju backed off as it spotted the glow of the cannon, taking its prize with it. Lion’s Roar turned to the right, keeping the left arm in front as they turned with the monster that had begun to circle them.

“You’d better shoot that thing before it comes at you again,” Iverson advised over the radio.

“It’s almost charged,” Shiro responded. “Just a few more seconds.”

Outside, the kaiju roared and snarled at them, dropping the jaeger’s arm into the water as it started to advance for a third time.

“Now!” Keith shouted. They fired the plasma cannon with three successive blasts. Each one slammed into the kaiju’s armored chest with a bright blue blast, cracking it open and making the monster reel back once more. “Let’s end this, Shiro.”

At his side, Shiro nodded and the brothers disengaged the plasma cannon in favor of their remaining sword. The kaiju was still reeling from the cannon, and they charged at it in three long strides. With one final thrust, they slammed the sword into its chest with enough force to fully impale it. Scavenger screamed in agony, flailing out blindly with its claws. The first strike glanced off of Lion’s Roar’s shoulder, but the second slammed into the head. The razor-sharp claws pierced the metal seemingly with ease, and suddenly alarms went off all around the two rangers as the conn-pod was breached.

The crushing blow took out a chunk of the right side of the head, and Shiro shouted as his control rig was torn off and sent flying across the pod. Keith yelled after him as he landed among twisted metal and was quickly buried by the debris from the damage.

One final blow hit Lion’s Roar in the side, but no damage was done as Scavenger collapsed into the water at the jaeger’s feet.

“Kaiju signature is gone,” Iverson said into Keith’s ear after a moment of silence. He’d continued to speak, but Keith had stopped listening the moment he’d gotten confirmation that the kaiju was dead and was all but ripping himself out of the rig. He threw himself down onto the floor of the conn-pod once he was free and ran across to the other side, where Shiro was buried in debris.

“Shiro!” he shouted as he slid down in front of the pile. His brother’s leg was sticking out from a pile of metal and Keith yanked off his helmet before beginning to try to unbury the rest of him. His hair was quickly soaked from the rain that now poured into the conn-pod, and a jagged piece of metal tore a gash into his cheek, but he hardly noticed as he threw and shoved metal to the side as quickly as he could. He repeated Shiro’s name several more times before he finally was able to uncover his head and shoulders. Carefully, he pulled off his now cracked helmet and set it to the side.

“Shiro, can you hear me?” he asked frantically. Shiro’s head jerked in a slight nod and his eyes slowly opened.

“Keith, you’re bleeding,” he said slowly. “Are you alright?”

“You aren’t the one who should be asking that question,” Keith snapped at him, continuing to move things off of his brother. “Are you hurt?”

“My arm is pinned,” Shiro told him. “I think it’s been impaled on something as well. I can feel blood in my suit.”

“It might just be the rain,” Keith offered, looking to console the both of them, but Shiro shook his head and Keith’s movements got a little more frantic.

“Be careful,” Shiro warned. “The debris might shift if you move it the wrong way.” Keith nodded and forced himself to slow down.

“Help should be here soon,” he said, unsure if he was reassuring himself, Shiro, or the both of them. The weather was still bad, and he had no idea how far out the choppers were. With much of the smaller debris cleared away, he started trying to shift one of the larger hunks of metal that had landed on Shiro.

He’d barely lifted it half a foot before Shiro yelled for him to stop and Keith froze in place, scared to even move the debris back to its original place.

“What now, Shiro?” Keith asked frantically.

“Just put it down,” Shiro told him. “It pushed on the metal in my arm, that’s all. It’ll retract if you put it back down.”

“That’s all?”

“I’m trying to get you to calm down. Just breathe, Keith. The choppers are coming and we’ll both be fine.”

“You’re seriously injured and you want me to calm down?” Keith almost laughed as he looked up through the ragged hole that was torn in the head of Lion’s Roar, hoping to see spotlights from the choppers, or to at least hear them approaching. When he saw nothing, he looked back to Shiro and slowly lowered the debris he’d been trying to life.

“You freaking out isn’t going to help us right now, so yes,” Shiro said once he was finished. “There’s nothing else you can do right now, so just wait for the choppers and the medical team.”

Keith muttered something unintelligible, but it was clear that he was frustrated as he moved to retrieve the helmet he’d all but thrown across the conn-pod.

“Iverson, where the hell are the choppers?” he snapped as soon as he’d shoved it back onto his head. “Shiro’s injured!”

“They’re two minutes out,” Iverson responded. “They had to move away from the worst of the storm. How bad is it?”

“I can’t see the injury, but he says his arm is impaled,” Keith told him. He walked back towards Shiro as he spoke, sitting down by his brother so he could take the hand of the arm he’d managed to uncover.

“Hang tight, Ranger. Don’t try to do anything else until the med team arrives.”

“I know.” Keith pulled the helmet off again and set it beside him. “They’re two minutes out, Shiro. Help is coming.” He squeezed Shiro’s hand as he spoke.

“That’s good to hear,” Shiro said slowly. “I’m not sure how much blood I’ve lost, but it feels like a lot.”

“Just keep your eyes open,” Keith said quickly as he realized that Shiro was nearing unconsciousness. “Keep talking to me until they get here. Talk about anything.”

“How mad do you think Adam is going to be?” Shiro asked. “He’s always so worried that I’m going to get hurt.”

“He’s not going to be angry at you.” It was most likely a lie, but they both knew that. Shiro and his fiancé almost never fought, but when they did it was always something to do with the Ranger Program. “It’ll be me he’s angry at, for letting you get hurt. He’s going to spoil you rotten until you get better.”

“Breakfast in bed sounds nice,” Shiro offered in comment, and Keith smiled.

“He might even cook for you. Whatever you want.”

“French toast and bacon.”

They talked until finally Keith could hear the choppers over the sound of the rain and a spotlight from one of them shone down on the pair of brothers. In a matter of seconds, members of the medical team were down in the conn-pod, instructing Keith to help them as they worked to pull Shiro the rest of the way out of the debris.

The medical team had no tools capable of cutting through the metal that had impaled Shiro’s arm, and they were forced to pull it out. Seeing the wound, Keith wanted to throw up. The hole it Shiro’s arm was massive, and it looked like there was little muscle left to connect it to his shoulder. It was at that point that Shiro finally fainted, and the team rushed to bind the injury as best they could before he lost any more blood. They lifted him up into the chopper, and Keith followed behind them.

As the helicopter began to fly back toward the shatterdome, Keith seated himself on the floor beside a bench where Shiro lay prone. One of the medics handed him gauze and a cold compress to help stop the bleeding on his cheek, and he pressed it against the gash. Shiro was still unconscious, but Keith could see where blood was already beginning to soak the bandages that covered the wound.

“Is he going to be alright?” Keith asked the medic who’d handed him the gauze.

“He should be,” the man responded after a pause. “It’s the arm we’re worried about. We can’t do anything more until we get him to the med bay, but the damage appears to be pretty extensive.”

Keith swore under his breath, looking back at his brother.

“You have to get better,” he told him. “I can’t stand the thought of not having you beside me. No one else can be my partner.” He didn’t expect a response, and there wasn’t one.

Aside from the chatter from the radio and the occasional response from the pilots, the chopper was mostly silent as they flew back to the shatterdome. They were met by another team of medics as they landed, and Shiro was quickly moved onto a stretcher. Keith moved to follow as they rushed him off towards the medical bay, but he was stopped by Marshall Sanda, standing beneath an umbrella to shield herself from the rain that still hadn’t even begun to let up.

“Let them do what they need to do, ranger. You’ll only be in their way,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “In the meantime, you need to change and debrief. You can get that cut looked at afterward.”

Keith looked from her to the stretcher that was moving farther and farther away. He wanted nothing more than to stay by his brother’s side, but the Marshall was right and so he nodded and started walking towards the hangar. He paused when he heard Lion’s Roar thud onto waiting transport platforms, and the damaged jaeger started to roll inside as well.

Lion’s Pride had returned as soon as Scavenger’s death had been confirmed, and Coran and Alfor were waiting for Keith just inside the doors of the hangar.

“What happened?” Coran asked, tossing a towel to Keith as he spoke. Keith caught it and wiped some of the water from his face. It came away with a little bit of blood from his cut, but the bleeding had mostly subsided.

“We killed it, but it took a chunk of Roar’s head along with it,” he told them. “Shiro got thrown and his arm was hurt when he hit the debris.”

“He’s going to be okay, though, right?”

“I hope so. I don’t know what I’ll do if…” Keith’s voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat abruptly. “He’ll be fine. I need to go get changed and debrief.” 

Coran opened his mount like he was going to say something more, but Alfor gave him a look and he closed it again. Keith gave him a grateful look and left them behind to head for his quarters.

As he changed into fresh clothes, Keith steeled himself in preparation for seeing Adam. If his brother’s fiancé didn’t already know that Shiro had been hurt, he would soon, and Keith would be the one to deal with the initial fallout. It was only luck that Keith didn’t run into him before reaching the conference room, but his luck ran out as the debriefing ended and he made his way towards the medical bay.

Adam was waiting outside of the med bay, looking stressed and angry enough to hit someone. The second he spotted Keith, he was storming towards him.

“What happened?” He demanded. “All anyone will tell me is that Takeshi is injured. They won’t even let me in to see him. And now you show up looking like you’ve been in a knife fight. Why aren’t you in there with him?”

“Marshall’s orders,” Keith said quickly. “She wanted me to debrief first. Stay out of the medics’ way.”

“Since when do you follow orders?”

“Since I didn’t want to get in the way of the people who are trying to help Shiro!” Keith snapped. Adam backed off a step as he did, looking like he was about to shout something back at him, but he was interrupted by the door to the medical bay opening.

“You two need to either be quiet or move your shouting match elsewhere,” a medic told them, standing in the doorway. “This is a hospital and there are sick people in here need rest.”

“I’m sorry,” Adam said quickly, suddenly looking sheepish.

“I don’t need apologies. I just need you to be quiet,” the medic responded. He looked down at a clipboard in his hands and back up at Keith. “Ranger Kogane, please come inside so we can take care of that cut.”

“Is my brother okay?” Keith asked, not moving from where he stood near Adam. “Has he woken up?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid. We’ll update you on everything inside.” He stepped further out into the hall, holding the door open.

Keith glanced at Adam and gave him a slight nod before walking towards the door. Adam was right behind him, and when the medic looked like he was going to protest, the look Keith gave him was enough to make him think twice.

They were met by a doctor, who immediately ushered Keith towards one of the examination tables to get the gash on his face looked at.

“Is Takeshi alright?” Adam asked him. The doctor glanced at him once before looking back to his task.

“He’s been in surgery for the last hour or so,” he responded, dabbing Keith’s cut with disinfectant. “He came out not long ago, but they had to put him under again in the process and he hasn’t woken up yet. That’s all I know right now.

Adam stayed with Keith as he was given stitches and as the doctor told him that it would still likely scar. Once he was finished, the doctor left to go see if there was any more news on Shiro.

It was a female doctor who returned, holding a tablet that she glanced at before stopping by the table Keith still sat on.

“Ranger Kogane. Mr. Walsh,” she began. “I’m Dr. Honerva. I’m sorry for the wait. Ranger Shirogane is still unconscious due to the anesthesia, but he should wake up soon.”

“Can we see him?” Adam asked quickly.

“You can, but I need you to listen to me first,” she responded. “Please sit down, Mr. Walsh.”

Keith looked from her to Adam, whose expression was quickly becoming panicked. Still, he listened to the doctor and sat in the chair beside the exam table.

“Thank you,” Dr. Honerva said. She glanced back at the tablet before continuing. “The damage to Ranger Shirogane’s arm was extensive. The shrapnel all but shredded his upper arm to the point of being irreparable.”

“What are you saying?” Keith asked. He’d seen he wound, but had still dared to hope that it looked worse than it actually was. Now, he realized, it was worse than that.

“We were unable to save his arm,” she confirmed. Keith dropped his head into his hands, ignoring the sharp sting of pain as he hit his cut. “It is unlikely that he will ever be able to pilot a jaeger again.”

“That’s what you care about?” Adam all but yelled. “His job? He lost his arm and all you say is that he won’t be able to do his job anymore?”

“Adam,” Keith murmured, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not her fault. Just…I don’t know. Try to breath. That’s what Shiro would say.”

“And I’d probably hit him for it,” Adam snapped at him. “He’s always trying to act like everything is fine and will be okay, but now it’s not fine. I’ve told him over and over to be careful, not to take too many risks, but he never listens and now it’s cost him everything.” He shook as he started cry, and Keith squeeze his shoulder. It was the only thing he could think to do. 

“Can we see him?” he asked Dr. Honerva again. “We should be there when he wakes up.” She nodded and gestured for them to follow her. Keith hopped down from the table quickly, but he waited for Adam to stand before going after the doctor. The door to the room she led them to was closed, but it opened once she scanned the ID card around her neck. 

Inside, laid on his back in a hospital bed, was Shiro. His eyes were still closed, and Keith could hear the steady beeping of the machine monitoring his heartbeat and other vitals. For the moment, he looked peaceful, but there was no ignoring the bandaging that covered his shoulder at the joint where his arm should have been.

“Once he has fully healed from the procedure, we’ll work to provide him with a prosthetic as soon as possible,” Dr. Honerva explained. “Jaeger technology has helped us make amazing strides in that line of medical work, so it will be almost like he never lost the real one in terms of functionality.”

“How long will that be?” Adam asked.

“A month or so,” she told him. “Possibly more. We’ll have to keep him here for at least a few days to monitor him and watch for any signs of infection, and after that he’ll need weekly check-ups so we can keep an eye on his progress.” She checked her watch and her tablet once again. “Now, I have other patients to check on, so I will leave the two of you with him. I only ask that you keep it down.”

“We will,” Keith assured her, and she nodded towards him before leaving the room. The door closed behind her, and both Keith and Adam stood there in silence for a long moment. “Are you okay?” Keith asked quietly. Adam hadn’t taken his eyes off of Shiro since they first saw him.

“No.” It was terse, and Adam took a deep breath as he moved to sit in the chair placed beside Shiro’s hospital bed. He took Shiro’s hand and squeezed it before continuing to talk.

“No matter how much I hate that he’s always throwing himself into danger, I never wanted to be right.” He finally turned his eyes away from Shiro’s face, looking instead towards Keith. “He loves being a ranger. He loves piloting that jaeger with you more than just about anything and now he’ll never get to do it again.”

“He’s alive,” Keith said. “That’s what matters. He’s alive and that means that he still gets to spend the rest of his life with you. That’s all he’ll care about.”

“How do you know?” Adam asked. “What if he thinks I wanted this to happen?”

“I’d never think that.”

Both of their heads shot up at the sound of Shiro’s voice. It was rough, and his words were slurred from the anesthesia and medication he was on, but his grey eyes were open and slowly moving between his fiancé and his brother.

“Takashi.” Adam’s voice cracked as he said his name, and he barely took the time to stand before lurching forward to hug him. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”

“I wish I could say how long I was out,” he replied.

“A few hours,” Keith supplied. He took a couple of steps closer, but kept back a couple of yards to give Adam room.

“Are you alright, Keith? You were bleeding before,” Shiro asked.

Keith almost started laughing. Only Shiro would be in a hospital bed, somewhere in the area of high on painkillers, asking about someone else.

“I’m alright,” he replied instead. “You should be more worried about yourself. Since you’re the one in the hospital bed.”

That was when Shiro’s eyes finally landed on where his arm had once been. Adam squeezed his hand as he stared, and both he and Keith waited for him to say something.

“I guess it was worse than I’d realized.” The words came after a long moment of silence. “What did they tell you?”

“Dr. Honerva said that they’ll be able to give you a prosthetic once you’ve recovered from the surgery,” Adam told him. “But it’s going to take some time. A month or so.”

Shiro nodded to himself as Adam explained, looking down at where their hands were still joined. Keith could tell that he was doing his best to keep himself calm, probably more for Adam’s sake than his own. As it was, Adam seemed to be barely holding it together and Keith decided that it would be best for him to leave them alone for a little while.

He took a few steps forward, reaching the end of the bed. Adam shifted back a little and Keith moved closer so he could give his brother a hug.

“I’m going to leave you two alone for a bit,” he said as he pulled away and stepped back towards the door.

“Keith, you don’t have to leave,” Shiro told him, but Keith shook his head. His brother frowned, but gave him a slight nod.

“I’m hungry anyway,” Keith continued. “We were supposed to eat dinner after our workout and big, bad, and ugly didn’t let that happen. I’ll bring back some food if the doctor will let me.”

He slipped out the door without another word, stopping on his way out of the medical bay only to ask if Shiro could eat regular food. Once he had approval from Dr. Honerva, he left and made his way for the mess hall. He knew he’d likely be intercepted by the other pilots at some point, but Adam and Shiro needed some time alone, and he needed time to process everything on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this idea into my head a while ago and it wouldn't go away, so here we are. Not sure how long this is going to be, but I have an idea of where I want it to go. The rating is subject to change, but it definitely won't go any higher than Mature at any point.
> 
> In terms of posting frequency, I can't say that I'm the most consistent writer, but the plan is give myself a buffer. So I'm posting this first chapter as I'm finishing chapter three.
> 
> Please leave kudos if you enjoy it, and comments are always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd intended to wait to post this until I finished writing Chapter 4, but decided to go ahead.
> 
> Thanks to my beta readers for their eternal patience and for helping me keep my head on straight.

A week after Scavenger’s attack, Shiro was released from the med bay. He wasn’t thrilled with the restrictions that Dr. Honerva gave him, but Adam made him promise that he’d make him follow them. Keith helped them both as much as he could for the first couple of weeks, especially once Adam went back to work. But for the last week or so, the majority of his time was being taken up by drift compatibility trials. 

It was the last thing he wanted, but Marshall Sanda insisted that he find a new co-pilot. Lion’s Roar was still being repaired, but she wanted him ready to go as soon as the jaeger was. A week and a half into the trials, however, and they’d been entirely unsuccessful. The Marshall had brought in just about every ranger and program recruit she could get her hands on, but less than five had shown signs of compatibility. Every one of them had failed to successfully drift with Keith.

Some of the other pilots liked to watch during the initial combat trials, but none of them were there today. Only Shiro sat to the side, watching as Keith traded blows with a young woman in her early twenties. She was taller than him and much bulkier, but it made her slower and it was easy for Keith to dodge her attacks. After 5 sudden death bouts, she’d only managed to land one hit on him. They readied for another, but Marshall Sanda lifted a hand as a signal to stop.

“Thank you, Cadet Zethrid,” she said. “I am confident you will find a co-pilot, but it isn’t today.”

Zethrid nodded to the Marshall and then to Keith before leaving the ring and placing her staff on the rack at the edge. Keith leaned heavily on his own, resting his chin on top of his hands. He looked towards where Zethrid had gone, mentally counting how many people were left. He didn’t even know where the Marshall was finding these people at this point, but three other recently graduated cadets stood at the edges of the ring. 

“Marshall, can we take a break?” he called over his shoulder. “We’ve been at this for over an hour.”

Sanda looked down at the tablet in her hands with a sigh. After a few seconds, she lifted her head to give Keith a tight nod.

“Take five minutes,” she told him. “I have a meeting with the Secretary-General in half an hour, so we can’t delay for very long.”

Keith nodded before straightening up and walking towards where Shiro was seated. He sat down heavily beside him, letting out a long breath as he relaxed against the wall behind them. Shiro offered him a water bottle, which he gladly took from him to take a long drink.

“This is stupid,” he muttered, just loud enough that Shiro could hear him. “I told her that I don’t want a new co-pilot. Why won’t she listen?”

“Because even though Roar is out of commission right now, she won’t be for long,” Shiro began to explain. “You know as well as I do that the attacks have been getting worse. They can’t afford to have a jaeger without pilots.”

“Then they should just get a new team altogether.”

“No one knows Roar as well as you do,” Shiro commented. He held up a hand when Keith opened his mouth to protest. “At least no one who can actually pilot her, which I can’t.”

“Yeah, well it’s still stupid,” he said instead. “We’ve been at this for over a week now and even the people she made me try to drift with were barely worth the time. She’s better off finding an entirely new pair of pilots.”

“Just get through today and then we can try to talk to her about it again,” Shiro suggested. “Honestly, if you cooperate and still have no results, then I’m sure she’ll drop it eventually.”

“But it’s a waste of time,” Keith grumbles. “And how long is eventually? Weeks, months? Until I’ve fought every possible person on the planet?” 

Shiro shrugs. “We’re soldiers,” he said. “We have to follow orders no matter how much of a pain they are.”

“You’re not a soldier anymore,” Keith snapped. He immediately regretted it as Shiro’s expression fell. “I’m sorry. I just…you know what I mean. You’re going to teach or lead the cadets or whatever. You’re on the path to being the man in charge of this entire place. I’m stuck like this because I’m not good for anything else and you won’t be by my side.”

“Just because I can’t fight with you anymore doesn’t mean I won’t be by your side,” Shiro told him. “I’m going to be here, right where I’ve always been. Just in a different capacity.”

“Yeah, well maybe I-“

“Kogane!” Marshall Sanda barked from where she still stood at the edge of the ring. “Back in the ring!”

Keith groaned and put the water bottle down on the bench between them before using his staff to stand up. Shiro put his hand on his shoulder as he stood, and offered him a smile.

“Like I said,” Shiro told him. “We’ll talk to her after this is done.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith said. He hefted the staff in his hand and rested it on his shoulder as he walked back to the ring. 

“Cadet Lotor,” the Marshall called, and a young man stepped forward to snatch up the staff Zethrid had left on the rack.

Keith’s new opponent was tall, with long, silver-toned hair that reminded Keith a little bit of Alfor’s. His expression, on the other hand, was nothing like Alfor’s calm demeanor. He looked intense and determined as they began to square off. 

Keith’s opponent moved first, lunging forward with a strike aimed at his ribs. The move took Keith by surprise, and his reaction was almost too late as he lurched to one side. The staff missed him by less than an inch, and he cut to one side as Lotor turned to deliver a follow-up strike. This time, Keith was more prepared and he knocked the staff away with his own before using it to trip him. He landed hard, and Keith tapped the underside of his chin with the end of his staff before leaning down to offer him a hand.

“1-0,” he said as Lotor took hold of his hand. He pulled him to his feet and spun his staff in a quick circle as they moved to reset.

The next bout went to Lotor, and Keith had a brief thought that perhaps it was a good sign, if only because drift compatibility between them would bring an end to the trials. To his surprise and even annoyance, however, the victory made Lotor cocky and more brazen. His moves and tactics became easier to read and at the end of six rounds, Lotor all but stomped out of the ring with only two points to Keith’s four.

The fights with the last two candidates were over quickly, 5-1 and 6-0, and when Keith looked back towards Marshall Sanda once the last one was over, she looked just about as exasperated as he felt.

“Candidates, thank you for coming,” she announced as Keith walked back to stand near Shiro. “Though today proved unsuccessful, the need for all of your talents is great and I’m confident that you will all become fully fledged jaeger pilots in the near future. You are dismissed.”

The group of cadets slowly filtered out of the training center and the Marshall walked over to Keith and Shiro.

“I thought for a brief moment that we might have found a match with Cadet Lotor,” she commented. “I’m disappointed that it didn’t turn out that way.”

“He’s an asshole, anyway,” Keith replied. “Even if we were drift compatible, working with a guy with an ego that big would have been impossible.”

“Because you don’t have an ego at all,” Shiro cut in jokingly. Keith scowled at him.

“I know I do, but his is the size of a cat 5,” he snapped back.

“Anyway,” the Marshall interrupted. “That was the last group for another week or so. We have to expand where we’re looking.”

“Marshall,” Shiro began. “Maybe it would be best if we-“

“I’m sorry, Shirogane,” she interrupted again. “But I have a meeting to get to and the Secretary dislikes lateness more than I do.” Keith sighed heavily as she continued. “If there’s something you’d like to discuss, you may come speak to me once I am finished in a couple of hours.”

She turned away before either of them could say anything else and left the training center. Keith practically threw himself onto the bench behind him and groaned.

“If I have to do this again, I’m going to go insane,” he grumbled. 

“Marshall Sanda said we can talk to her later,” Shiro reminded him. “It’s better for us to speak with her when she isn’t busy anyway. That way she’ll hear us out.”

Keith stood up again, leaning his staff on his shoulder, and walked to the weapons rack at the edge of the ring. He set it on the rack alongside the rest, checking to make sure they were all orderly out of habit. When he turned back, he found Shiro struggling a little with his bomber jacket and jogged back over to him.

“Here,” he said. “Let me help.” 

Shiro didn’t protest as Keith took hold of his jacket and helped him get his remaining arm through the sleeve. He adjusted where it settled on his shoulder before draping the other side over the shoulder where his arms had been removed. It was warm inside the shatterdome, and Shiro didn’t necessarily need the jacket, but his missing limb attracted enough attention that having something to cover it made him feel less awkward. Adam had wanted to raise a fuss about the way people were reacting, but Shiro had assured him that the stares and the talk would stop once he got his prosthetic. 

“Thank you,” Shiro murmured once Keith had finished. “I’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Keith told him, waving off the thanks. “Besides, you won’t need to get used to it. In a couple more weeks, you’ll have a bad ass robo-arm.” Shiro laughed and Keith smiled as he did. While Shiro had been putting on a strong front since his injury and the amputation of his arm, he knew his brother well enough to know that it was affecting him a lot. 

“Come on,” he said, quickly changing the subject. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving after all of that.”

“That would be because you didn’t eat breakfast again,” Shiro reminded him. Keith just shrugged. “But you’re right. I’m a bit hungry too.”

As they left the training center, the halls were fairly empty and they didn’t encounter anyone else until they were closer to the mess hall. The line for food wasn’t long yet, but Keith knew that several departments would be starting their lunch breaks soon and the hall would be crowded in no time. Shiro was able to hold his tray in one hand, and he and Keith walked over to the table that they always shared with the other rangers. Trigel and Grygan, the pilots for Lion’s Fury, were already there and eating as they sat down.

The third jaeger to be housed at the shatterdome, Lion’s Fury was also the newest. Built half a year after Lion’s Pride, it was the third of a trio designed by Voltron Engineering, and she’d been helping pick up the slack as Roar was being repaired. It had only taken a week for them to even the score and nab their sixth kill against a kaiju that had been aiming for the southern coast of California.

“How are the trials going?” Trigel asked Keith. The other rangers had come to watch the matches for the first few days, but had mostly stopped as they’d dragged on.

“They’re frustrating,” Keith grumbled. He didn’t say anything more before starting to eat. 

“None of the cadets today showed any potential for compatibility,” Shiro elaborated for him. “We thought there might be one, but it ended up just being a fluke.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted him for a co-pilot anyway,” Keith muttered through a full mouth.

“He had a bit of an ego,” Shiro told her. “He got a point on Keith and got a little too cocky.”

“That’s an understatement,” Keith added. “He was an asshole. Plain and simple.”

“Well, we certainly don’t need another one of those around,” Grygan commented. Keith looked up to glare at him, but let it fall when he noticed the shit-eating grin on his face. “Kidding, of course.”

“Anyway,” Trigel said. “I’m sorry there’s been no luck. I know Lion’s Roar isn’t ready to go just yet, but I’m sure you’re eager to get back out there.”

“Yeah, it would suck if we got a leg up on your kill count because you were out of commission for too long,” Grygan added in. “We’re already tied. Won’t be long before we’re the ones ahead.”

“If that’s not motivation to get back in the driver’s seat, then I don’t know what is,” Alfor said, coming up behind Keith with a tray. Shiro was seated to Keith’s left, so he set his tray down on the table to his right and sat down. “We’ll never hear the end of it if Fury gets ahead. Not that it’ll be long before we’re all tied up again at 6 kills.”

“I think we’ll be the ones to make it to 7 first,” Coran declared, coming around the end of the table to come sit across from his co-pilot. Everyone turned to look at him and he shrugged. “Just saying. Alfor and I are quite the team.”

“Sure, Coran,” Grygan replied. “Either way, the Marshall would smack us if she heard us treating this like a competition.”

“Very true,” Alfor agreed. “This is a war we’re dealing with. Not a game.”

The rangers all fell silent as they went back to their meals, and while the conversation resumed after they’d all finished, Keith and Shiro got up to leave.

“Where are the two of you off to?” Coran asked as they turned to leave. Keith turned back to answer.

“Shiro has a medical check and after that, we need to talk to the Marshall,” he said. Coran nodded in understanding and the others murmured their goodbyes as they walked away.

Just outside the mess hall doors, they ran into Adam coming in for his lunch break. His coveralls were partially unzipped to show the t-shirt beneath them, and as he approached, he pulled Shiro into a one-armed hug. 

“Are you headed to the med bay?” he asked him, stepping back after a few seconds. 

“Yeah, we just ate,” Shiro confirmed, nodding. “You should eat first, but if there’s time, you should join us. If not, I’ll see you this evening?”  
“Of course,” Adam told him. “I’ll try to get there, but I can’t make any promises.”

“I understand,” Shiro replied. “Like I said, if not, I’ll see you tonight and catch you up on anything important then.” He leaned forward again and kissed Adam’s cheek. While their relationship wasn’t even remotely a secret within the shatterdome, they weren’t often affectionate outside of their own quarters, and Adam reddened as Shiro stepped back again. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but ended up closing it again and saying a quick goodbye before he continued on his previous path into the mess hall.

Keith glanced at his brother and couldn’t help but smile at the grin on his face. The last couple of weeks had been difficult for Shiro, and seeing him happy made him feel just a little bit better about everything that had happened. No, the loss of Shiro’s arm hadn’t necessarily been his fault, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d only made things worse when he’d tried to move the metal that had imbedded itself in Shiro’s arm. It often crossed his mind that perhaps Dr. Honerva would have been able to save the arm if he’d just had the patience to wait for the medics to arrive.

He hadn’t voiced any of this aloud to Shiro, not wanting to worry him or add to his troubles. He’d come close when they had briefly spoken during his break in the training center, but the Marshall had called him back to the ring and even then, he’d not been entirely sure about what he’d been going to say. 

If he was honest with himself, he felt as though his place at the shatterdome, and in the PPDC entirely, hinged on being at Shiro’s side. The only time he felt like he was doing anything useful was when he and his brother were inside Lion’s Roar, tearing apart the kaiju that threatened then entire planet. He’d joined the training academy for the Ranger Program at Shiro’s urging, and had almost been kicked out on numerous occasions for his occasionally rebellious behavior. His brother had pulled strings to help him stay in more than once, and Keith had pushed himself to graduate if only for the sake of not disappointing him.

Without Shiro at his side as his co-pilot, he felt directionless. Shiro had the temperament to teach and to lead. So, despite the loss of his arm, he still had a purpose within the PPDC. Keith was only good at fighting giant monsters, and even then, he was only good at fighting alongside his brother. Just like now, he’d shown no signs of drift compatibility with anyone else. And deep in his gut, Keith knew that he wouldn’t be compatible with any of the candidates that the Marshall put in front of him. If he couldn’t find a new co-pilot, he was dead weight and it wouldn’t matter how talented he was. The PPDC couldn’t afford to have anyone hanging around who couldn’t pull their own weight.

He hadn’t brought it up with his brother because he knew Shiro would do whatever he had to in order to convince the Marshall that Keith shouldn’t be discharged. He’d always been that way, trying to help Keith so he could prove to him that he was worth more than he believed. Keith was grateful for everything Shiro had done for him over the years, but this time there was no point. 

Shiro didn’t know yet, but Keith had already decided. He’d started to plan things out a few days ago, doing his best to keep his brother or anyone else from learning or suspecting anything. He didn’t necessarily want to be secretive about it, but he knew that Shiro and at least a few of the other jaeger pilots would try to keep him from leaving the shatterdome if they found out. As it was, he almost wished he could just disappear without telling anyone, but even he knew that defection was the worst decision he could make.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Earth to Keith. Are you in there?”

They’d started walking towards the medical bay after Adam had left, but Keith had barely noticed anything, lost in his thoughts. Now, Shiro had pulled him to stop just outside the doors.

“Are you alright?” he asked him. “You’ve been quiet for a while.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith replied quickly. “Just got lost in thought.”

“Yes, because you think so much.”

“Hey!” Keith punched him in the arm. It was less of a punch and more of a push, but Shiro still grunted slightly as Keith’s fist made contact.

“Alright, alright,” Shiro responded. “I was joking. Had to do something to get you out of your stupor.”

“Sorry,” Keith apologized. He shook his head just a little and looked towards the med bay doors. “Anyway, let’s get this check-up over with.”

Shiro nodded and opened the doors to the medical bay. Keith followed him inside, and hung back a few feet as Shiro checked in with a nurse and followed her directions as she told him to sit down in the small waiting area.

“She said Dr. Honerva should be back from her lunch break soon,” he murmured to Keith as he settled onto the bench near the desk the nurse sat behind. Keith nodded and stayed standing. “You know,” Shiro started to say. “You said that you’re alright, but you don’t look it. You look like something is bothering you.”

Keith frowned and looked down at the floor for a second before offering Shiro a smile.

“I’m fine,” he said. “This is all just a bit frustrating. We both know I had no luck finding a co-pilot after I graduated from the academy. The only reason I’m here today is because your old co-pilot was medically discharged and our bond as brothers made us compatible.”

“That doesn’t mean there isn’t someone else out there that you’re compatible with, Keith,” Shiro tried to reason. “I know you’re frustrated, and that’s why I want to help you talk to the Marshall about stopping the trials for a while.”

“I don’t want them to stop ‘for a while’. I want them to just stop,” Keith grumbled. “For good. I don’t want a new co-pilot.”

“Keith…”

Before he could continue, the doors to the medical bay opened and Dr. Honerva walked inside, holding a mug in her hands. She spotted the two of them immediately.

“Ah, Ranger Shirogane,” she greeted Shiro with a nod. “We’ve been expecting you. Please, come with me.” She gestured towards an exam station along the wall and started to walk towards it once Shiro stood up. Keith followed after them and leaned up against the wall as Shiro sat on the exam table.

Adam had pretty much forced Keith to agree to be at any of Shiro’s medical checks that he wouldn’t be able to make it to once he started working full shifts again. It was mostly to give moral support to Shiro, but Adam also wanted Keith to report back anything that Shiro might neglect to say later. It had yet to actually happen, but Adam didn’t want Shiro to hide it if he were to receive bad news.

Keith glanced around the medical bay as he listened to the conversation his brother was having with the doctor. It was mostly empty aside from the staff, and only one or two other stations were occupied. Safety in the shatterdome was a high priority for the PPDC, but accidents did still happen on occasion. From what he could tell however, the two other patients appeared to just be sick.

“It looks like the swelling has gone down enough for us to take measurements for the prosthetic,” he heard Dr. Honerva say, and he turned to look back towards her and Shiro. She’d helped him remove the dark red long-sleeved shirt he was wearing, leaving him in his tank top so she could look at his shoulder and stitches.

Seeing the place on his shoulder where they’d stitched him up after the amputation made his stomach clench and he felt the guilt almost like a punch in the face. Frowning, he looked down at the exam table instead.

“Is that sooner than expected?” Shiro asked as the doctor began taking measurements with a measuring tape and tapping at her tablet every few seconds or so. 

“Not particularly,” she responded. “But considering the nature of your initial injury, I’m glad to see that there haven’t been any complications.”

“I think we’re all glad about that,” Shiro commented. “If I’m honest, things have been hard enough as it is. I’m ready to have at least some normal functionality back.”

“Unfortunately, it’ll be another couple of weeks before we’ll have the prosthetic ready for you,” the doctor reminded him. “But I can assure you that you’ll have almost full functionality back at that time.”

“I appreciate all you’re doing for me,” Shiro told her. “Even if I can’t pilot a jaeger anymore, life will be a lot easier once I have some normalcy back.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Dr. Honerva replied. “I know this has been difficult, but you’re holding up very well from what I can tell. You have solid support around you, and it’s the best possible thing for you to have.” She glanced at Keith as she said it, and for half a second, he wondered if she somehow knew about his plans to resign and leave the shatterdome. 

“Thank you, doctor,” Shiro said. She nodded as she stepped away, rolling up her measuring tape and tapping a few places on her screen. Keith stepped forward to help Shiro get his shirt and jacket back on.

“We’ll do another check-up next week,” the doctor reminded him. “In the meantime, I’ll get your measurements sent out. Remember to come straight here if something feels off. It shouldn’t at this point, but caution is important.”

Shiro nodded in understanding as he hopped down from the exam table. He thanked Dr. Honerva once more before he and Keith began walking back towards the doors of the med bay. The nurse who’d greeted them when they’d arrived waved as they left.

“So, do you want to see if the Marshall is finished with her meeting?” Shiro asked Keith as they walked down the hallway. 

“Don’t worry about it for now,” he responded. “She said it’ll be a few days before she’s able to get more people here. We don’t have to talk to her today.”

“Are you sure?” Shiro asked. “It’s not like I have anything to do.”

“Yes you do.” Shiro gave him an incredulous look. “You have to make up for all of the workouts you’ve been missing.”

“I don’t think I’m cleared for that just yet, Keith,” he said.

“You just don’t want proof that I can beat you at one-armed pushups.” Keith knew that probably wasn’t true, but if riling Shiro up a bit got them off the topic of Shiro going with him to talk to the Marshall, he’d do as many pushups as it took.

“Is that a challenge you’re sure you want to make?” Shiro asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I’ve already made it,” Keith replied. Adam was going to kill him if he found out, but it was a little late now. “Are you gonna prove me wrong?”

“You’re on.” Shiro grinned as he said it, and Keith held his hand up, waiting for Shiro to take it.

“Whoever can go the longest wins. Winner gets the loser’s dessert for a week,” he said. “Lunch and dinner.” Shiro’s grin widened and he reached up and clasped Keith’s hand.

“It’s a bet.”

They walked quickly through the corridors of the shatterdome towards the training center and gym, still just as in sync as they’d been before Shiro’s injury. It made Keith feel for a brief moment like things hadn’t actually changed all that much.

The gym was empty as they arrived, and Keith quickly pulled off the maroon long-sleeve shirt he was wearing. He helped Shiro out with his, and Keith stretched a bit in his tank top. 

“Which arm will you use?” Shiro asked him. He was stretching as best he could, and Keith with over to help him out a bit once he was done with his own.

“It’s not a fair challenge if I don’t use my right arm too,” he replied, pushing on Shiro’s arm as he stretched it over his head. “Is that enough?” He let go as Shiro nodded.

“So, whoever can go the longest?” Shiro asked as they both sat on the floor. He shifted into a ready position as Keith nodded. Keith noted that he looked a little off balance, but it was to be expected and he put his left hand behind his back as he put all of his weight between his feet and right hand.

“Ready?” he asked. Shiro adjusted his feet just a little bit and then nodded. “Alright, then. Three, two, one, go!”

Both of them started doing push-ups at a steady, but slow pace, and Keith was surprised at how well Shiro was doing. Despite almost three weeks of no physical activity, Shiro was keeping pace with him. Albeit they didn’t do one-armed pushups that often before, so both of them were somewhat on the slower side of things.

“Not giving up, are you?” Shiro asked as Keith slowed down a little. “We’ve only just hit fifty.”

“Not on your life,” he retorted. “Just letting you get a head start since you’re so much older than me.”

“Just because I’ve lost an arm doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass, Keith,” Shiro commented. Keith looked up from the floor and grinned at him for a moment before he shifted his focus back to the task at hand. 

As he reached seventy-five push-ups, however, Keith felt his arm start to shake, but Shiro looked to still be going fairly strong and he grit his teeth as he began to struggle to stay up. On the eightieth one, his nose was nearly touching the ground and when he tried to push himself back up, his arm shook violently and collapsed under him. 

Shiro did a couple more just to prove his point before he shifted to sit on his knees and looked at Keith as he pushed himself into a kneeling position. 

“Looks like I win,” he said. “Your desserts are mine.” 

Keith breathed heavily as he got to his feet and used his arm to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. Shiro smiled as he stood as well.

“I let you win,” Keith commented as he pulled his shirt back over his head.

“Sure you did, little brother,” Shiro replied with a laugh. He picked up his discarded shirt and threw it over his shoulder. “Come on. It’s time for a shower. You smell.”

They left the gym, headed back toward the barracks, and went their separate ways once they reached them. They used to share a room as most co-pilots did, but once Shiro had proposed to Adam and they’d become engaged, they had begun to live together instead and Keith had a room to himself just down the hallway. 

Rangers had just enough privileges that while they still had to use a communal shower, it was rangers only so no one else was there when Keith arrived. He showered quickly and left in a fresh set of dark grey fatigue pants and the dark red shirt that was the uniform for he and Shiro as pilots of Lion’s Roar. His towel hung around his neck as he walked back to his room, where he toweled it dry before brushing it into some semblance of order before leaving again.

He checked the hallway for any sign of his brother, and once he was sure that he wasn’t around, he slipped out of his room and closed the door as quietly as a metal door could close. He pushed up the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows as he walked out of the barracks and started in the direction of the Marshall’s office. He hoped that by now she’d be finished with her meeting so they could talk. 

As he reached the offices at the upper levels of the shatterdome, he paused at the desk of the Marshall’s assistant, who was typing something on her computer. She looked up as she heard his boots on the floor.

“Ranger Kogane,” she greeted. “Are you looking for Marshall Sanda?”

“Hello, Romelle. Yes,” Keith nodded as he responded. “Is her meeting with the Secretary finished?”

“I believe so,” Romelle said. “Let me check first.” She picked up the phone receiver resting by her elbow and pressed a button. She was quiet as she waited for a few seconds. “Marshall? Yes, I have Ranger Kogane here to see you.” She nodded to herself, murmuring a few “uh-huh”s as she listened to the voice on the other line. “I’ll send him in.” 

She hung up the phone and gestured toward the door. “You can go in.”

Keith thanked her and walked to the door, knocking once before opening it. As he stepped inside, Marshall Sanda was sitting behind her desk, looking at something on her tablet. She set it down as he approached.

“You can take a seat, ranger,” she said, but he shook his head.

“I’ll be quick, Marshall,” he told her. She nodded and sat back in her chair, waiting for him to speak.

“The trials aren’t going well,” he said after taking a long breath. “We both know that. And I know that you know as well as I do how my trials went after I graduated from the academy. You’re wasting resources on me by bringing all of these people here.”

“Is there an alternative position you want to suggest for yourself?” she asked. 

“No.” His answer was matter of fact. “I’m not cut out for teaching, and I sure as hell am no engineer. There’s nothing here that I can do.”

“Then what is it that you’re here to talk to me about?”

“I’m here to resign. Effective immediately.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Kudos are always appreciated and I'm always happy to hear your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> November means NaNoWriMo, which means lots of motivation to write as much as I possibly can. Normally I'd start something brand new as is traditional for NaNo, but I'm rebelling a bit this year and working on this instead. 
> 
> A big thank you to my beta readers as always, and I hope y'all enjoy the chapter.

Keith wiped his forehead with the towel slung around his neck as he walked around the front of a large pick-up truck. There was no one to steal a truck out in the middle of a pasture, so the keys had been left in the ignition and a dinging sound came from the dashboard when he opened the door and climbed in. He turned on the engine as he settled into the driver’s seat and put the truck into drive before pulling away from the fence post that he’d just finished repairing.

He’d come across the broken post while on his morning drive around the edges of the ranch’s property and had set to work on repairing it with one of the fresh posts that he kept in the bed of the truck. He didn’t know what had broken it, but Keith had all kinds of theories in the back of his head. Sure, the cause didn’t really matter so long as it was fixed, but in a world where gigantic monsters were rising out of the sea to destroy humanity, there was no reason that the Ozark Howler didn’t exist as well. 

Keith turned up the air conditioning in the truck as he began to drive along fence as he had been before discovering the broken post. It was only just past nine in the morning, but the heat already had sweat beading on his forehead and sliding down the back of his neck. He continued to check for any other damaged places along the fence, and an hour later he was driving along the road on the outside of the fence back toward the main house of the ranch. He could see the ranch’s metalwork sign from about a hundred yards away, and gradually it grew larger until he could easily read it.

Garrison Ranch had welcomed him with open arms when he’d practically shown up on their doorstep two years before with a wanted ad in his hand, and he’d been there ever since. They’d been short a hand and he needed somewhere to call home again after he’d left the PPDC. It was a bonus that it was practically in the middle of nowhere and very far away from anything to do with his former profession. Instead of fighting monsters, he was now helping to raise and care for horses. 

As his truck got closer to the main house, Keith watched a large, black dog come bounding down the front steps, stopping right where the grass of the yard met the gravel parking area in front of the building, it’s tail wagging as it waited for him to get out of the car. Keith smiled and switched off the engine, pocketing the keys as he opened the door and stepped out of the truck. The door had barely slammed closed before the dog all but tackled him to the ground.

“Cosmo!” he spluttered as the dog jumped up at him, trying to lick his face. “Cosmo, down!” There was enough force in his voice that the dog dropped down onto all-fours, but the butt continued to wiggle as his tail wagged and he struggled to stay still.

Keith dropped down to his knees to pet Cosmo, but he was quickly knocked over onto his butt when the dog surged forward again. He licked Keith’s face and nuzzled up against his neck, making slight whining sounds as Keith pet him.

“You saw me yesterday,” Keith told him. “Oof!” The breath rushed out of his lungs as Cosmo flopped heavily onto him, belly in the air so Keith could continue to scratch it. A cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog and an Australian Shepherd, Cosmo was not a small dog and Keith had to shove with all of his strength to get him to move off of his ribs. “Get off. I can’t give you belly rubs if I’m dead.”

It took several minutes of constant scratching and snuggling before Cosmo finally decided that he was content and moved enough that Keith could get to his feet. He did his best to brush off the dog hair he was covered in, but it didn’t do very much good. With a sigh, he scratched the top of Cosmo’s head and walked towards the house. Cosmo was hot on his heels as he walked up the steps and opened the front door.

“Ellen?” he called out as he took a step inside. Cosmo pushed past him and he let the door close behind him as he walked further into the house. After a few seconds, he heard footsteps and a woman in her late 30s came around the corner.

“There you are, Keith!” she exclaimed as she saw him. “How many times have I told you to come for breakfast before you do your morning rounds? A good breakfast is important when you’re out in the sun all day doing this kind of work.”

“I’m sorry, Ellen,” Keith said. “Since my cabin is out a ways, it’s easier to just do my rounds before coming by.” Ellen fed all of the ranch hands both breakfast and lunch each day, but Keith was notorious for being late for breakfast. She’d gotten into the habit of just setting his aside, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t stop fussing at him.

“You were sorry yesterday and you were sorry the day before that,” she replied, shaking her head. “There’s no changing you. Come on, have a cup of coffee while the oven reheats your breakfast.” She gestured him into the house’s large kitchen and he sat down in one of the chairs. She placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of him less than a minute later, followed by a carton of cream from the fridge. 

“Cosmo got you again, did he?” she asked, glancing at his fur covered clothes before turning away to press the warm button on the oven. The dog in question had settled across his feet and Keith could feel his tail brushing against the back of his leg as it continued to wag.

“I let him,” Keith told her. It was half true. Cosmo would whine and pout until Keith gave him the love he wanted, so it was easier to just submit.

They chatted until Ellen deemed his breakfast warm enough, and then Keith ate quickly so he could head out and meet up with the other ranch hands in the barns. Cosmo tried to follow him out to the truck, but Ellen told him to stay and he reluctantly obeyed.

The drive to the barns was short, and soon Keith was helping brush down the horses and cleaning out stalls. Ellen and Cosmo arrived a few hours later with foil trays full of sandwiches and it felt like almost no time had passed before Keith was driving back out to the cabin he lived in on the far side of the property. 

When he’d come to apply for the job, Ellen and her husband Jay had asked him if he was living anywhere. As soon as he’d said no, they had offered him the cabin. It was small, with only one bedroom, but that didn’t really matter since Keith lived alone. 

Keith cut the truck’s engine off once he pulled into his small driveway and was thinking about what he’d have for dinner as he unlocked the front door. He wasn’t a particularly good cook, but he’d learned a few things and Ellen had a tendency to give him bags full of food for his freezer. So when he was feeling lazy, all he had to do was pull out a container of soup or pasta sauce or whatever else she gave him. This was one of those days and after he dropped his keys in the little bowl he kept by the door, he went and pulled a container of corn chowder out.

He was standing by the stove, poking at the slowly thawing block of soup, when there was a knock at his door. He looked towards it, brow furrowed, and quickly dropped a lid on the pot before walking over. Not expecting anyone, Keith paused by the window, and carefully peeked outside. Everyone who worked at the ranch drove a truck or an SUV, but parked beside his truck was a black sedan he didn’t recognize. Even if it weren’t for that, there weren’t that many people who knew he lived out here.

The knock came again, and though Keith considered pretending he wasn’t at home, it wasn’t particularly convincing with the truck out front and the lights on. Instead, he walked the last few feet to the door and opened it. When he did, he saw the last person he had ever expected.

“You’re a hard man to track down, Keith.” Shiro looked almost exactly the same as he had two years ago when Keith had left. His undercut was more pronounced now, and the hair that eternally hung in his face was white, but otherwise he was unchanged. 

“Shiro…” That was all Keith was able to say before he was being pulled into a hug. It was short, but strong, and it was only after Shiro stepped back again that Keith noticed the dark blue uniform he was wearing. It was decorated with various medals and familiar rows of colored bars. “You…you’re the Marshall now?”

“For about 6 months now,” Shiro told him. He looked like he was going to elaborate, but instead he glanced over Keith’s head. “Can I come in?”

“Of course!” Keith stepped aside and let Shiro inside. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked, closing the door once his brother was inside. “I don’t really have much, but there’s beer, sweet tea…”

“A beer would be great.” Keith nodded and stepped back into the kitchen area. He gave his soup a stir before continuing to the fridge and getting out two beers. He opened them and set one on the table near Shiro, who took off the coat of his uniform, leaving him in a black t-shirt, before sitting down at his small kitchen table.

Keith’s eyes went straight to Shiro’s left arm. The prosthetic was a dark grey metal, accented with black in some places. It looked almost lifelike and Shiro seemed to be able to use it just like a real arm from what he could tell. He felt a pang of guilt, knowing that he’d been long gone by the time Shiro had gotten the arm. He shoved it down and looked back to the stove to focus on the soup instead.

“How did you become the Marshall?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Marshall Sanda retired after Lion’s Pride was almost destroyed and we lost Alfor.”

“Alfor is dead?” Keith turned around abruptly. “What happened?”

“It was a category 4,” Shiro began to explain. “Coran made it, but Alfor was killed when the bastard took out half of the conn pod.” He paused to take a sip of his beer, and Keith took a moment to process the news. 

“What about Trigel and Gyrgan?” Keith asked. 

“They retired right after Alfor died,” Shiro explained. “Sanda tried to get them to stay, but she was ousted and they left anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith murmured. 

“The attacks are getting worse and we keep losing pilots,” Shiro said. “Jaegers as well. That’s why I’m here.”

“Shiro, you know I’m no-” Keith started to protest.

“Keith, I need your help,” Shiro interrupted, and his bottle hit the table with a thud. “You think you’re useless, I know. No matter how many times I’ve tried to convince you otherwise, you’ve never believed that, but I need you to now. I need your help.” Keith could hear the frustration in his voice, and he looked away from his brother.

“Keith, they’re trying to shut down the Jaeger Program,” Shiro told him after a minute of silence. “They say we’re not doing enough and want to build a wall instead. The other Marshalls and I are doing the best we can, but if things don’t improve, we’re done.”

“What am I supposed to be able to do about that?” Keith asked. “I don’t have a co-pilot anymore. You keep saying I’m not useless, but I am.”

“You have yourself convinced that it’s impossible to be drift compatible with someone else. It’s not true,” Shiro said, his tone sharp. “I know you’ve had issues, but that does not mean you’re incapable of finding a new co-pilot.”

“Then why did weeks of trials come up with nothing?” Keith snapped. “Why couldn’t I find a co-pilot after I graduated from the academy? I got lucky when you lost yours, and I feel horrible even saying that I was lucky because the circumstances were awful. And then you lost your arm and for all I know it was my fault. I’m not worth the trouble.”

“Is that why you left?” Shiro demanded. “Because you think this was your fault?” He waved his prosthetic arm around a little as he said it. “You did not do this. You did not throw me into a pile of shrapnel. Scavenger did.” His voice was raised, but he looked pained as he waited for Keith to say something.

Keith had curled in on himself slightly as Shiro spoke, and his back was mostly turned away again. He was trying to focus on the stove, where the soup he’d started heating before Shiro had ever arrived was beginning to bubble. He stirred it as Shiro stared at his back. 

“Keith, I didn’t come after you because the Marshall Sanda said that this is what you wanted,” Shiro told him. “You didn’t even say goodbye and I let it go because it’s what you wanted. Not to mention the fact that you didn’t leave behind any way to find you.”

“Then why are you here now?” Keith asked. 

“I told you. I need your help. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t desperate.”

Keith turned off the stove before he turned back around. “And how am I supposed to be able to help?”

“About a month ago, a cat 4 called Nekojima attacked, and we sent Lion’s Pride and Twilight Huntress to intercept it,” Shiro explained. “Huntress had the upper hand, but the kaiju surprised them with an acid attack. In the end, it destroyed Huntress. One of the pilots was able to eject in time, but his partner didn’t make it out.”

“According to you, you’ve lost pilots before this one,” Keith commented. “Why is it different this time?”

“I see a lot of similarity between the pilot who survived and you,” Shiro told him. “I think there’s a possibility that you’re compatible.”

“And now you want me to drop everything and go back to the jaeger program on the slight chance that I could be compatible with this guy?” Keith let out an exasperated sigh. “You said the jaeger was destroyed, so what’s the point? Even if we were compatible, what would we pilot?”

“Lion’s Roar.” Shiro’s answer was matter-of-fact. “After you left, they decided to upgrade her. She’s still nuclear, but they made improvements to the weaponry and the systems. Engineering Officer Holt claims that her command response time has been increased by about 20%.”

“Shiro, I can’t just leave,” Keith said with a sigh after a few seconds of silence. “I have a job and a life here. I can’t just abandon that on the tiny chance that I might be drift compatible with this ranger I’ve never met. There has to be someone else who can do for this.”

“Keith, I told you I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t need your help.”

“Well, I can’t help you.”

Shiro sighed and rubbed his temples with his right hand. He stood up from his chair and picked up his jacket from the back of it.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll leave you be, but please at least give me some way to contact you. You’re my brother, and the last two years have been difficult without you by my side. I’d like to at least be able to talk to you every once and a while.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t leave anything before,” Keith told him quietly, holding his hand out for the phone that Shiro had pulled out of his pocket. Shiro passed it over and Keith updated his contact information with the new phone number he’d gotten after returning to Texas. 

Shiro smiled at him as he put his jacket back on, but Keith could see the sadness in it. 

“If you change your mind, I’m staying in town overnight,” he said. He took his phone back from Keith and walked to the door. “My flight out is at 10.”

“Okay.”

Shiro left without another word, and Keith stared at the door for a while after he was gone. When he finally pulled himself away, he turned back to the stove. His appetite was gone, but he couldn’t help but feel that Ellen would know if he didn’t eat dinner. So, he pulled a bowl out of the cabinet and poured the soup he’d heated into it before sitting down at the table. He ignored Shiro’s abandoned beer.

When he finished eating, he cleaned his dishes in silence and walked to his small living room, where he sat down on the sofa. He absently picked up a remote off of a side table and switched on the TV. The news was on, but he wasn’t really paying much attention. His mind was on Shiro and what he was asking him to do. 

It had been two years since he’d seen his brother. It was intentional on Keith’s end, but he’d still been glad to see him and know that he was doing well. But what Shiro wanted…well, he supposed he should have expected it. Especially once he’d noticed Shiro’s new rank. 

The beliefs he held around his reason for leaving the PPDC hadn’t changed in the time he’d been gone, though he hadn’t really had reason to think about it. Now, after what Shiro had asked him to do and what he’d said, he couldn’t get it off of his mind. His brother wasn’t wrong when he said that Keith didn’t give himself enough credit. He knew that about himself, but in this case, he felt like this wasn’t him being ridiculous. Despite Shiro being convinced that he was wrong, to him, there as too much proof that he was right and he wasn’t drift compatible with anyone else. But he also knew his brother well enough to know that he was telling the truth when he said he wouldn’t have come if he weren’t desperate.

He’d seen the trouble that the PPDC had been having. The news covered every single kaiju attack there was, and if it ended with death or a destroyed jaeger, the coverage always included politicians claiming that the program was no longer an effective defense against the monsters. Just as Shiro had told him, they were pushing for the building of a massive wall, hundreds of feet thick that would be designed to keep the kaiju out. They claimed that while it would be an expensive project, it would be less so than the continued building and maintenance of jaegers. And in the long run, would be more effective because it would keep the kaiju from ever reaching the cities that they still so often caused damage to in their fights with the jaegers sent to defeat them.

He remembered watching the footage of Twilight Huntress being destroyed before Lion’s Pride was able to come to their aid and kill Nekojima. They’d shown images of her pilots, a man and a woman, when confirmation had been received that Ranger Nyma Bandor had died. Her partner had been Ranger Lance McClain, but all Keith could really recall about him was the cocky, but admittedly cute, grin that he’d had in the picture of the pair that had been shown. All he knew about him aside from that was that Shiro seemed to think that the two of them could be drift compatible.

Keith went to bed still thinking about what Shiro had said and about Lance and what his brother saw in the ranger that made him think that he would be compatible with him.

His alarm went off at 5am as always, and Keith rolled over and fumbled for his phone, eyes still closed. He cracked one open so he could see what he was doing once it was in his hand and turned it off. With a wide yawn, he sat up and glanced out the window to see an overcast sky. He rolled his neck and got out of bed to start the day.

In just over an hour, Keith had completed his morning workout, showered, and enjoyed a cup of coffee. The coffee took a while, as between sips, he was throwing things into a duffel bag on his bed. He didn’t own very much, so it all fit easily and the last thing he pulled out of his small closet was his bomber jacket. He hadn’t worn it since leaving the shatterdome, and he didn’t put it on now, but carried it and the bag out of the bedroom and placed both on the kitchen table. 

He turned and gave the cabin a cursory look for anything else that might belong to him before cleaning his coffee cup and putting it away. Walking back to the table, he picked up the bag in one hand and slung the leather jacket over his shoulder before picking up his keys. When he opened the door, Shiro was standing in the driveway, leaning against the door to his rental.

“Shiro,” Keith stammered out, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been in your head. I know you better than anyone,” his brother said. “I knew you’d change your mind.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile, but hid it by turning back to the cabin to lock the door behind him. He jumped down the couple of steps leading from the door to the gravel driveway and Shiro met him halfway to the car to pull him into a hug. Somehow, it felt even tighter than the one from the night before, and Keith had to shove him a bit to get him to let go.

“I have to talk to Ellen and Jay,” Keith said. “And I’ll need to take the truck back to the main house.”

“I’ll follow you,” Shiro told him. He took Keith’s bag from him and put it in the back seat of his car before getting into the driver’s side. Keith climbed into the truck and started the engine, quickly putting into reverse. 

Soon, they were driving along the road that led to the main house. One of the ranch’s horses saw his truck approach, and ran alongside for a couple of minutes before peeling off as the pasture fence threatened to block its path. Keith drove beneath the familiar metal sign and parked alongside another truck that belonged to Jay. Shiro pulled in beside him, and Keith got out of the truck. He gestured for Shiro to get out of his car, and turned towards the house just as the screen door banged to announce an incoming Cosmo.

Keith dropped to his knees quickly, and unlike yesterday morning, he was able to keep upright as the excited dog crashed into him. He kept ahold of Cosmo and scratched wherever he could reach until the dog finally calmed down enough for him to be sure that he wouldn’t try to tackle Shiro as well. When he let go, Cosmo trotted over to his brother and shoved his nose against Shiro’s hand so he’d pet him. He complied, and soon the three of them were walking up the front steps.

“Keith, is that you?” Ellen’s voice called out from the kitchen. She came around the corner as Keith was stepping inside. “Well, you’re in time for breakfast. Hell must be freezing over.”

“Not exactly,” Keith said as Shiro came in behind him. 

“Ah, glad to see you found him.” Ellen was addressing Shiro now, and Keith looked around at him, confused. “This gentleman arrived last night looking for you, Keith. He said you were related, so we sent him to your cabin.”

“And I appreciate the help,” Shiro told her. 

“Well, both of you come on in. There’s plenty of food for an extra mouth,” Ellen beckoned them into the kitchen and the brothers followed. “Can I get you some coffee?”

“That would be great, Ellen,” Keith replied. He glanced at Jay as he and Shiro entered the kitchen. “Morning.”

“Mornin’, Keith,” Jay greeted. “Ellen’s right. Hell must be freezing over if you’re actually here in time for breakfast. That or somethin’s up.”

“It’s the second one,” Keith told him, and Jay raised an eyebrow. “I’m leaving. My brother needs my help, so I have to go with him. I’m sorry its last minute, and I don’t want to cause any problems, but-”

“Keith, it’s alright,” Ellen interrupted as she pressed a mug of coffee into Shiro’s hands. “When your brother showed up last night, we had a feeling it might mean you’d be leaving with him.”

“We appreciate everything you’ve done for us, Keith,” Jay added in. “And we’re sad to see you go, but there’s not much more in life that’s more important than family.”

“You don’t have to leave right now, do you?” Ellen asked. Keith shook his head and she gestured to the table. “Then sit. Have breakfast with us.”

Keith did as he was told, and Shiro sat down beside him at the large table. Ellen quickly served them all plates, and between small talk and questions about Shiro and a few mentions of Keith’s rebellious days, they all enjoyed a big breakfast. When they’d all finished eating, Keith offered to help Ellen clean, but she shooed him away. Not once in two years had she ever let him help, but he always offered anyway. Instead, she handed him a travel mug full of coffee and told him to take it with him. 

Shiro went out to the car as Keith gave his goodbyes to Ellen and Jay, and once he went out onto the porch sat down with Cosmo and rubbed and gave him scratches for a few minutes. 

“Alright, Cosmo,” Keith said to him. “It’s time for me to go.” He kissed the dog on the top of the head and got to his feet. He scratched between his ears one last time before walking down the steps and getting into the passenger’s seat of Shiro’s car. 

Ellen and Jay stepped outside and waved as Shiro put the car in reverse and backed the car up a bit before he shifted back to drive and pulled away from the house. Keith didn’t look back as they passed beneath the iron gate and started down the road.

The brothers were quiet as Shiro drove, and Keith idly sipped at the coffee Ellen had given him, looking out the window as they passed through the small city that was close to the ranch.

“Where did you fly into?” Keith asked. The nearest major airport was hours away, but there were some smaller ones that operated in a mostly private capacity.

“The local airport about an hour from here,” Shiro replied. “I don’t remember the name off the top of my head, but it was the closest I could get to the ranch.”

“How long did it take you to find me?”

“To be honest, I’ve known where you were for a while. At least the general area,” he told him. “Adam wanted me to go after you as soon as I found record of where you went, but I knew that if you’d wanted to be found, you would’ve reached out.”

Adam. Keith was not looking forward to seeing Adam again, simply because he knew he’d be getting a punch in the face before anything else. Not only did Keith leave without telling anyone but Marshall Sanda, he’d left before Shiro had fully recovered and before he and Adam’s wedding. He knew with absolute certainty that Adam was going to be really pissed when he showed up.

“How…how is he?” Keith asked.

“He’s doing well. He’s been working with one of our newer weapons engineers to create something he’s refusing to tell me about.”

“That sounds like him,” Keith commented. “I assume he knows you were coming to try to bring me back?”

“Yes, and he’s not particularly happy about it. He hasn’t been able to let go of the fact that you left before the wedding,” Shiro explained. His tone became sad as he talked. “He said something along the lines of ‘he can be trampled by a fucking horse for all I care’.”

Keith was quiet for a few moments. Shiro and Adam had gotten married about six months after he’d left the PPDC. He knew the date by heart, and he’d felt guiltier for hurting them both that day than he had the day he left. He was supposed to have been Shiro’s best man, but instead all he did was send an anonymous gift. 

“I’m sorry,” Keith said finally, looking at Shiro. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you that day. I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfill the promise I made to you.”

“Keith, you don’t have to apologize.”

“I do! I skipped out on your wedding because I couldn’t face you or Adam. I felt like everything that had happened to you was my fault, and I couldn’t bring myself to show my face.”

“I told you that it wasn’t your fault,” Shiro reminded him. “Stop beating yourself up about my arm. It’s fine now. It’s like I never lost it in the first place.”

“It doesn’t change how I felt,” Keith replied. He looked down at the ring on his brother’s hand as he spoke. “I felt guilty for getting you hurt, I felt guilty for leaving, and I felt guilty for missing your wedding.”

“Adam is going to hit you if you’re still having this pity party when we get back to the shatterdome.”

“You say that like he’s not already going to hit me.”

“Only if you let him,” Shiro commented. They both fell into silence again for a few moments before Shiro spoke again. “I’m serious,” he said. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. You did what you needed to do, and at the time, it was what was best.”

“You’re far too nice for your own good,” Keith grumbled.

“The cadets I was teaching before I became Marshall probably wouldn’t agree with that.”

“What you consider mean and what other people consider mean are very different things, Shiro.” Shiro only shrugged.

They fell into silence, and though Keith felt like he needed to fill it, he couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t result in him apologizing again. So instead he stared out the window and listened to the radio that faded in and out of static every so often as they drove down the dusty country road.

When they pulled into the airport, Keith spotted the jet waiting for them on the tarmac. It was branded with the PPDC logo and he wondered if Shiro had pulled some strings to use it to fly here or if it was just one of the perks of being the Marshall of a shatterdome. Shiro parked the car a good hundred feet away from the jet and the brothers got out once he cut the engine.

Keith grabbed his bag out of the back seat of the car and followed Shiro towards the plane, where the pilot had just stepped out onto the top of the stairs to greet them.

“Good morning, Marshall Shirogane,” she called out in greeting as they neared the plane. She saluted, and Shiro responded with a dismissive wave. Keith got the feeling as they began to climb the stairs that he still wasn’t quite used to the power and respect that he now commanded as a Marshall.

“Good morning, Captain Danvers,” Shiro greeted as he reached the top. “We’re a bit earlier than planned, but I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“Not at all, sir,” she replied. “We’re all fueled up, so I’ll just do my last checks and we can be on our way.”

Keith edged past Shiro so he could board the plane while he spoke with the captain. The interior was nice, but he didn’t spend much time looking around before dropping his bag onto one of the seats and sitting down beside it. Shiro joined him after a minute or so and it was only another ten minutes or so before the pilot was closing the cabin door.

“Good morning,” she addressed them both over the intercom system as the plane began to move. “You know already, but I’m Captain Danvers and I’ll be your pilot today. We’re looking at an approximately eight hour flight to Coupeville Nolf Airfield. The weather is looking clear, so we should have a smooth flight. Sit back and relax, and enjoy the flight.”

Keith looked out the nearby window as they rolled across the tarmac and onto the runway. He remembered being scared of flying when he was younger, but becoming a jaeger pilot had squashed the fear. He glanced at Shiro, who was looking over information on the tablet he pulled from his own bag, and closed his eyes as the plane took off.

He wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep, but Keith woke to Shiro shaking his shoulder and he yawned as his brother sat back down.

“We’ll be landing in a few minutes,” he told Keith, who nodded and checked around him to make sure he had his stuff. At some point, his jacket had ended up in his lap, acting like a makeshift blanket, and he put it back on top of his bag just as the plane touched down.

Keith and Shiro both thanked the Captain Danvers as they disembarked from the jet, and Keith fell in behind his brother as they walked across the tarmac toward a waiting helicopter. They climbed on board and were airborne within a couple of minutes. 

“So when am I supposed to meet this ranger?” Keith asked over the headset he’d put on after sitting down. “McClain, you said?”

“I don’t recall telling you his name,” Shiro commented and Keith’s face tinged red for a brief moment.

“You told me his old jaeger’s name,” he said quickly. “I remembered see him on the news when his partner died.” Shiro smiled and Keith gave him a half-hearted glare.

“He hasn’t had much to do aside from recover since Huntress was destroyed,” Shiro explained. “So, probably today unless he’s gone off somewhere like he’s not supposed to.”

“Does he do that often?”

“I told you that I saw some similarities between you.”

“If you’re banking on a shared talent for doing things that result in getting into trouble, you’re more desperate than I thought,” Keith commented. He looked out the window, spotting the shatterdome in the near distance. It wasn’t far from the airfield, but its construction hadn’t left room for a proper landing strip and they had to rely mostly on helicopters to get from the island to the mainland. 

It started to rain a bit as they got closer to the island, and Keith watched Shiro pull a trench coat from his bag and put it on over his uniform. He only had his bomber jacket, and after a few minutes of deliberation, decided to put it on. At least to keep him mostly dry until they were inside.

The helicopter landed with a bump and Keith watched a couple of the workers on deck rush forward. They opened the sliding door to let him and Shiro out, and the brothers half-ran towards the open hangar doors. A young woman holding an umbrella over her head met them, and Keith smiled a little a he recognized Romelle, glad to see that she’d remained in her position as Marshall’s Assistant after Sanda had gone.

“Welcome back, Marshall Shirogane,” she greeted, smiling as she saw Keith behind him. “And you as well, Ranger Kogane. It’s good to see you again.”

“Thanks, Romelle,” he replied.

“I assume nothing catastrophic happened in the couple of days I was gone?” Shiro asked. She shook her head as the three of them walked the rest of the way into the hangar.

“You have a conference call with the Secretary and the other Marshalls tomorrow morning, but that’s it,” she explained, putting down her umbrella once they were under cover. 

“I was hoping to run the compatibility trial first thing, but it’ll have to wait until the afternoon, then,” Shiro commented and Romelle started tapping at the tablet she held in one arm. “Has Ranger McClain been seen today?” 

“He was at lunch mess with Rangers Holt and Garret a couple of hours ago,” she answered. “Though I’m not sure where they’ve gone since then.”

“That’s fine,” Shiro told her. “I just want to ensure that he’s around somewhere. I’m going to show my brother to his new quarters and then I’ll be in my office.” 

Romelle nodded and headed towards the elevators while Shiro and Keith remained in the hangar.

As Keith looked around, he realized that not much had changed in the last two years. If anything, it felt more chaotic that before, but as he tipped his head back to look up towards the upper levels of the hangar, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d missed this place. 

Shiro clapped him on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow him, and Keith started walking again. They passed by Lion’s Pride, and Keith looked up at it with a pang of sadness as he remembered that Alfor was gone. He did notice, however, that the lion heads painted onto the jaeger’s chest had increased to 8. Turning around to see the opposite side of the hangar, he saw Lion’s Fury standing at the ready.

Eventually they arrived at the bay that contained Lion’s Roar. Keith looked up at her, taking in the familiar paint and design, looking brand new instead of beat up and scratched as it had been the last he’d seen it. Craning his head upward, he could just spot the lion heads on the jaeger’s arm and saw that they’d added the sixth one when they’d redone the paint.

“She looks brand new,” he commented. 

“She pretty much is,” Shiro said. “Everything but the core, at least. They had the time, so they practically rebuilt her from the ground up. I want to get you to your quarters, but figured you’d like to see her at least.”

“Thanks.”

The brothers fell into step alongside each other as they walked back to the elevators, and soon they were stepping out into the long corridor that housed the ranger barracks. 

“Your old room is unoccupied, so I assumed you’d prefer to be there,” Shiro told him as he led him down the hallway. He opened his mouth to say something more, but a loud bang cut him off and reverberated down the hall.

The sound was followed by several voices yelling and one of the doors a few feet ahead of them burst open, emitting smoke and three coughing people.

“Guys, what the fuck?” one of them shouted, down on all fours with his head hung between his arms. “Pidge, you said it was going to work this time!”

“I thought it would! How was I supposed to know it was going to blow up?” another answered, pushing skewed glasses into a straighter position on their face as their back thumped against the wall. 

“Because it blew up the last three times?” the third person supplied. It was at that point that Shiro took a few steps forward and cleared his throat. The last person to speak, a dark-haired, broad shouldered and bulky young man, looked up and jumped to attention as he spotted Shiro and Keith. “Uh…hey there, Marshall Shirogane.”

When the other two heard Shiro’s name, they both froze and looked up. 

“Marshall! Uh…I’m so sorry, I was just-,” the individual wearing glasses piped up. Keith noticed they had red hair that reminded him a lot of one of the techs who worked in the hangar.

“Clean it up and I won’t ask,” Shiro said quickly, cutting them off. “At least I can say that the three of you have good timing.” He beckoned Keith forward a bit. “I want you all to meet my old co-pilot and little brother.”

“Oh, you’re Keith!” Pidge said excitedly, pushing off of the wall to come forward. “We’ve heard so much about you, but I never thought we’d get to meet you in person. I’m Pidge Holt.”

That was where Keith recognized the hair from. They were related to Matt and Science Officer Holt. Before he could mention it, the larger man stepped forward.

“I’m Hunk Garret,” he said, offering a hand. Keith took and for a moment. “Great to meet you.”

“Hunk and Pidge took over Lion’s Fury from Trigel and Gyrgan,” Shiro explained. The two still looked a bit sheepish as they stepped back, but Keith figured it was more to do with the smoke still coming out of the room they’d been in rather than nerves. He glanced towards the last person, who’d finally gotten to his feet as he realized that there were introductions happening.

He stood only an inch or so taller than Keith, and their eyes met for a moment as he pushed brown hair out of his blue eyes.

“And this,” Shiro gestured to him with a hand as he spoke. “Is Lance McClain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one. I'm thinking it'll be up within the next week, so keep an eye out.
> 
> As always, let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving comments or kudos, and I'm always open to some construction criticism.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writing is moving right along, and for some reason the chapters keep getting longer. I have no control over them anymore, which I accepted when chapter 6 hit 10k pre-cuts. It's going through edits right now, but we're getting there.
> 
> As always, thanks to my betas. Y'all are great for not complaining as these chapters get longer.

Keith watched as Lance looked between him and Shiro a couple of times before finally settling his gaze on him.

“You look nothing alike,” he finally said, and out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Pidge slam their hand into their forehead. “Seriously, you don’t.”

“Let me clarify,” Shiro said with a sigh. Keith didn’t even need to look at him to know that he probably had his fingers pressed to his temples. “Keith is my adopted brother.”

“Adopted?” Lance looked between them again before leaning back on his heals with a “huh”. 

“Lance, their last names are different. What did you think that meant?” Pidge asked. 

“I don’t know!” Lance spluttered. His cheeks turned red and Keith gave Shiro an incredulous look as he kept talking. “Like, maybe one of them was married or something.”

“The Marshal is married, you idiot,” Pidge told him.

“Well, he wasn’t when he was still a pilot!” Lance retorted.

“You’re not helping your case, man,” Hunk commented from the side. 

“You’re supposed to be my best friend,” Lance complained as he turned to look at him. “The betrayal in this hallway is strong.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Shiro interjected. “Get yourselves and whatever you blew up in there cleaned up.”

“I was only a spectator!” Lance protested.

“Clean it up or your shower time will be cut by 75%,” Shiro told him. Lance’s eyes went wide and he wordlessly saluted Shiro before darting back into the room he’d come from, with Pidge and Hunk right behind them.

Shiro let out a long sigh as the door closed and he gave Keith an apologetic look as he gestured down the hall again. 

“Does that happen often?” Keith asked as they started walking again.

“Pidge is a Holt,” Shiro offered as an answer. It was all Keith needed to know, and he made a mental note to get himself a pair of earplugs. If Pidge was anything like their brother Matt, late night mishaps were not out of the question.

They hadn’t moved much farther down the hall before Shiro stopped in front of a familiar door. He pushed it open and stepped to one side as Keith approached and stepped through the opening. 

It looked almost the same as he’d left it, though someone, probably Shiro, had taken down the couple of papers he’d left taped to the walls. Knowing his brother, he probably still had them in a drawer or a box somewhere. 

“No one has lived in here since you left,” Shiro commented. “We’ve had new pilots, of course. But they made this place way too big when they built it, so the barracks have never been full. At least for the rangers. We have more techs and engineers than I know what to do with half the time.”

“Takes a lot of manpower to keep the jaegers going, I guess,” Keith said as he sat his duffel bag down on the bed.

“I never realized just how much until they put me in charge of it all,” Shiro replied. “I think I have it all figured out and then something goes wrong and it’s up to me to fix it.”

“I’m sure you’re doing just fine. You were more cut out for this than just about anyone.”

“Alfor is the one who should have ended up in charge.” Shiro’s voice was quiet as he said it. “He was the best suited to leadership out of all of us.”

“I doubt that there’s anything you’ve done that he wouldn’t have,” Keith told him. “Either way, we can’t change what happened. Isn’t that what you’ve told me for years?” 

“You’re right,” Shiro replied with a soft smile. His phone pinged and he pulled it out of the pocket of his jacket to check it. “Adam is looking for me,” he said as he typed out a message in reply. “I’ll let you get settled for a bit. Waylay the inevitable for you just a little bit longer.”

“You mean him punching me?” Shiro only nodded as he waved, phone still in hand, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Keith let out a sigh and looked at the lone duffel bag sitting on the bed for a moment before going to the small closet in the corner of the room. Opening it, he found familiar sets of dark red shirts and grey pants. He wondered briefly for a moment if they’d just been left there for two years, but knowing Shiro, he’d just assumed that Keith would come back with him and had the uniforms readied. He filled the space left in the closet with the contents of his duffel, as meager as they were, and looked at the bomber jacket lying on the bed for a moment before hanging it up too. Shiro would say differently, but in his mind, until he had a co-pilot again, he wasn’t a ranger. 

Finished unpacking, Keith sat down on the bed and immediately flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t traveled much in the last couple of years, and had forgotten how tiring a full day of it could be. Now, he felt like he could sleep for a solid 48 hours. Instead of closing his eyes, however, he pushed himself back up into a sitting position after a few minutes and got to his feet. After opening one or two of the drawers, he found a towel and tossed it onto the bed along with a set of clean clothes. He picked them up along with his shower kit from beside his empty bag and pulled the door open quickly before stepping out and letting it slam behind him.

The walk down to the rangers’ communal showers was only about fifty feet, and as Keith slid the door open, the first thing he heard, loud and clear over the sound of running water, was singing.

“Oh my!  
Feels just like I don't try  
Looks so good I might die  
All I know is everybody loves me

Get down,  
Swaying to my own sound  
Flashes in my face now  
All I know is everybody loves me  
Everybody loves me!”

The singing continued as the water stopped running, and Keith hurriedly started to move towards one of the empty stalls. Just as he was opening the door, one along the opposite wall opened. Stepping through the door, only a towel wrapped around his waist, was Lance, still singing and not noticing that Keith was there.

“Don't you know you wanna  
Everybody  
Everybody  
Everybod-AHH!”

Lance looked up right then and the last word dissolved into what he would later deny, but what Keith would call a scream. He dropped the caddy he was carrying, and several of the bottles fell out, skittering across the tiled floor. Keith looked away, both for Lance’s privacy’s sake and to try to hold back a laugh.

“What the hell?” Lance shouted, reaching down almost immediately to try to snatch up his things. “What are you lurking in here for? That’s creepy, man!”

“I was coming in to take a shower!” Keith retorted quickly, dropping his things onto the bench of the stall he’d chosen before going to pick up one of the bottles that had slid a few feet away. “It’s not my fault you didn’t hear the door open.”

He glanced down at the bottle in his hand for a brief second before stepping back toward Lance to hand it back, stopping to grab another before holding them both out to him. “Here are your…” He looked down again. “Lotions. Why do you have two?”

“They’re different,” Lance responded as he took them, crouching to deposit them into the caddy. “I have a process.” He straightened back up in time to see the confused look on Keith’s face. “What? It does take some effort to keep myself this naturally handsome. If you ask me, you could use some of this stuff. Your skin looks seriously dry.”

Suddenly lost for words, Keith only blinked at Lance. Did Shiro seriously think that he would be compatible with this guy?

“What? I know I look good, but there’s no reason for you to just stare at me like a weirdo.”

“I wasn’t staring,” Keith said quickly, looking away from Lance in favor of the stall that he’d dropped his stuff in. As he broke eye contact, he missed an exaggerated eyeroll from Lance, who turned away with his caddy in hand.

“Whatever you say, dude,” he said over his shoulder as he began walking out of the showers. Keith didn’t breathe until he heard the door close and once it did, he leaned heavily against the stall wall.

This was not the first impression that he’d wanted to give, but was it really his fault that Lance hadn’t been paying enough attention to notice that someone else had come in? He knew from his previous time at the shatterdome that the water isn’t loud enough to completely block out the sound of the door. Despite that, Keith mentally kicked himself for looking at Lance the way he had. He’d been staring without a doubt, and trying to say he hadn’t been wouldn’t change it. Sure, rangers see each other shirtless all the time, be it in the showers, the training rooms, or wherever else, but it had been awkward in this case and Keith reddened just thinking about the way droplets of water had been sliding down Lance’s chest as he stood there, and how he blinked away the drops that slid from his hair into his eyes.

“I’m gonna kill Shiro for convincing me to come back here,” he muttered to himself as he turned the shower on and started haphazardly pulling off his clothes. He’d come all this way on Shiro’s request, but he was already regretting it. Adam was sure to punch him, though he knew that he really did deserve that. Aside from that, he’d made a fool of himself in front of the man meant to become his co-pilot. “There’s no way this is gonna work.”

He stepped under the spray of water and just let it soak his hair and skin for several minutes before actually reaching for his soap or shampoo.

Ten minutes later, Keith walked out of the showers in a clean uniform, with his towel around his neck and his civilian clothes bundled under his arm. The hallway was blessedly empty and he walked quickly to his room and closed the door swiftly behind him. Inside, he sat down on the bed and pulled his towel over his head so he could use it to dry his hair before dropping in beside him. 

He glanced at the phone he’d left behind when he went to shower, and spotted a text from Shiro asking him to join him and Adam for dinner once he’d finished settling in. He had half a mind to pretend that he’d gone to sleep and never seen it, but he knew that Shiro would end up coming to get him himself and there was no point in delaying the inevitable.

So instead of flopping onto his back and falling asleep, as much as he wanted to, he got up and rummaged through his shower kit until he found his hairbrush and ran it through his still damp hair a few times to get it into some form of order. Looking at his face in the mirror on the wardrobe, he couldn’t help but to touch his face for a brief moment as he remembered Lance’s comment about his skin being dry. It wasn’t something he’d ever cared about, but then, no one had ever said anything about it to him.

With a sigh and a quick shake of his head as he told himself he was being stupid, he tossed the brush onto his bed and scooped up his phone, pocketing it, before he pulled on the pair of combat boots he’d found in the bottom of the wardrobe when he unpacked. 

The hallway was still empty when he stepped out of his quarters, and after taking a moment to orient himself, he set off in what he was pretty sure was the direction of the Marshall’s quarters. He hadn’t ever been to them when he’d previously been a Ranger, but if he remembered correctly, then they weren’t too far from the staff offices. 

The hallways became more crowded as he left the ranger barracks and reached what was essentially the main thoroughfare of the shatterdome. The long hallway branched off to various parts of the complex, and Keith saw a lot of familiar faces as he walked towards what was now Shiro’s office. Many of them smiled and he nodded at their greetings, but didn’t stop to talk out of the worry that he’d run into Lance again before he got to his destination. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk to him again just yet after their awkward encounter in the showers.

“Keith! Keith!” A voice from behind him brought him to a stop and he turned to see the familiar ginger hair of Coran over the crowd of people. He stepped past a couple of people to get to one side of the hall so he wasn’t standing directly in the middle of it as he waited for Coran to catch up. 

“Hey, Coran,” Keith murmured once the taller man reached him. 

“Welcome back!” Coran said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I knew Shiro had gone off to find you, but I didn’t realize you’d already come back.”

“I only got here a few hours ago,” Keith told him. “Haven’t had much time to do much other than unpack and get settled back into my old quarters.”

“I see. Well, it’s great to have you back!” Coran smiled as he spoke, though Keith could swear that he saw a glimmer of lingering grief in his eyes. It was clear that he wished that his old co-pilot could return as well.

“Coran, I was sorry to hear about Alfor,” he said quietly. “He was a great man, and I know everyone misses him.”

“Yes, well.” Coran paused to clear his throat. “I miss him quite a lot. We were partners for a long time, but in a way, I still see him every day. His daughter graduated from the academy not that long ago and, well, we’re drift compatible.”

“Coran, that’s great!” Keith said quickly. 

“It’s certainly helped the both of us deal with his loss,” the older man commented. “And we still have things to work on when it comes to our teamwork, but it’s coming along nicely. We got our first kill together when we were deployed to assist Twilight Huntress.”

“I remember seeing Pride on the news,” Keith mentioned. “Though it’s a shame that Huntress was lost.”

“I must say that I can’t envy Shiro these days. Things are getting harder and harder for the Ranger Corps. The more jaegers we lose, the harder it gets to convince them to keep funding us. That’s why Shiro went to find you.”

“I can only hope it’s worth it,” Keith murmured. “Anyway, I need to go. Shiro wants me to have dinner with him and Adam.”

“No worries! Allura wanted to have a sparring match before we eat, so I need to go track her down.” Coran waved before walking away and disappearing into the crowd of people in the corridor. Keith started walking again as well, continuing towards Shiro’s office.

Romelle was seated at her desk outside the office doors as Keith approached, and she smiled once she spotted him. 

“Ranger Kogane,” she greeted. “Are you looking for the Marshall? He’s on a call right now, but he should be finished soon. You can wait out here if you’d like.”

“That’s fine,” Keith replied. He took a seat on a bench just across from Romelle’s desk and glanced down at his phone as she went back to typing on her keyboard.

After a few minutes, footsteps approaching from the down hall made him look up in time to see Adam walking towards him. At first, it seemed like Shiro’s husband didn’t see him, but as he got closer, Keith noticed the scowl on his face. He stood up as Adam got closer. 

“Adam,” he greeted, one arm twitching up into an awkward waved. “It’s been a while.”

“Seriously, Kogane?” Adam snapped, stopping a few feet away from Keith. “It’s been a while?”

Keith put his hands up defensively, fully expecting Adam to take a swing at him. And he did. The punch took him in the side of the jaw, and Keith stumbled back a step with the impact. 

“Jesus, Adam,” he all but yelled, gently raising a hand to his now aching jaw.

He expected Adam to start yelling at him, but instead, he stepped forward and pulled Keith into a hug. “You’re a fucking idiot,” he said.

They stayed like that for a minute or two, Keith not moving, more shocked than anything. Adam finally let go of him when they heard the sound of a door opening, and both of them turned to see Shiro stepping out of his office.

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Shiro commented. “I figured there’d be blood to clean up, but it’s hugs instead.” Keith raised an eyebrow and turned his head to show where his jaw was reddened. “Ah, I see. Are you alright, Keith?”

“I deserved it, so yes,” Keith replied. 

“He certainly did,” Adam said with a light huff. “You deserve worse for disappearing without a word and missing our wedding.”

“I know, I’m an asshole,” Keith ceded. “Thank you for not breaking something.”

“Yes, thank you for not breaking my brother,” Shiro commented. “He has to pilot a jaeger, and it’s time for all of us to eat.” He glanced over at Romelle. “If I’m needed, I’ll be in my quarters for the remainder of the evening.”

Romelle nodded and Shiro reached out and took Adam’s hand, starting to walk down the corridor, back the way Keith and Adam had come from. Keith followed behind, waving a goodbye to Romelle, and caught up in a few quick strides. 

Shiro and Adam led him to a side corridor just outside of the block of offices and to a door at the end of an otherwise empty hallway.

“Wow, no one else around to slam doors all the time,” Keith commented as Shiro opened the door and stepped inside.

“A perk of being the guy running this place,” his brother replied. He closed the door behind them all. As they walked further into what Keith still called the Marshall’s quarters in his head, he noticed a table with four chairs and a tray of food at three of the places. “The food isn’t any better, though. But there’s not much I can do about that. Especially when the Jaeger Program isn’t the only thing dealing with budget cuts.”

“Resources are being cut too?” Keith asked.

“Among other things. But that’s for me to worry about, not you,” Shiro told him, sitting down at the table. Adam settled beside him and Keith scrambled to go sit across from him. “I want you to focus on getting yourself back into that jaeger. What did you think of Lance?”

“He’s arrogant,” Keith said without really thinking. Adam snorted and Shiro gave him a brief disapproving look. “What? He is.”

“Last I saw him, he was covered in smoke dust,” Shiro commented. “I didn’t realize you’d gotten so good at reading people through such limited meetings.”

“It wasn’t that. I ran into him again later…” he paused, wondering if this was really something to be talking about with the Marshall. Despite Shiro being his brother, it felt weird. At the same time, he knew he’d be pressed about it if he stopped now. “In the shower. He didn’t know I was in there, and it got awkward when he came out of the stall and then he talked about how naturally handsome he is.”

“That sounds like him,” Adam commented.

“Adam, be nice,” Shiro chided softly before looking back toward Keith. “Lance can be a bit arrogant, but a lot of it comes from the fact that he’s finally found some success despite facing so much adversity at the academy.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s got natural talent, but he was never good at really working hard. If I remember correctly, he almost flunked out,” Shiro began to explain. “I think that was his wakeup call, because he started putting a lot more effort into his training after that.”

“That just sounds like he wasn’t trying hard enough,” Keith said.

“Well,” Shiro continued. “His lack of effort at the beginning made it difficult for anyone, including his instructors to take him seriously. When he graduated and found someone he was compatible with, it was a big victory because it proved all of those people who’d been doubting him wrong. He was always confident, and that plus his first kill boosted it even more.”

“I can understand confidence in a jaeger, but I’m talking about how he acts about his appearance,” Keith interjected. Sure, the shower encounter had been brief, but something about how Lance had acted just bothered him. “He seems to think he’s some kind of god in human skin. I don’t know how I’m meant to be compatible with someone like that.”

“There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye, Keith,” his brother told him. “I didn’t ask you to come back on a whim. I truly think that the two of you could be compatible. You just have to give him a shot.”

Keith didn’t respond, and the three of them ate in relative silence. He’d forgotten how not good but not terrible the food at the shatterdome was. The mashed potatoes were a little dry and the vegetables left a lot to be desired, but he chalked it up to being spoiled by Ellen’s cooking for the last couple of years. He’d been eating this kind of food for much of his life, and he’d get used to it again soon.

They talked for a bit once they’d finished eating, but it wasn’t too long afterwards that Keith bid Shiro and Adam a good evening and left to head back to the ranger wing.

This time as he walked through the halls, it was less crowded. Many of the people were in the mess hall most likely, made clear by the telltale roar of conversation and forks hitting metal trays. As he approached, he saw Hunk and Pidge coming from the barracks, and they both waved at him as he approached.

“Keith!” Hunk called out. “Do you wanna join us for dinner?” 

“That’s alright,” he responded with a shake of his head. “I just finished eating with my brother. Couldn’t put anything else in my stomach if I wanted to.”

“Rain check, then?” Pidge suggested, and he nodded to them in agreement. 

“That sounds good.” He kept walking, grateful that Lance hadn’t been with them. He could see the entrance to the barracks ahead of him as he walked, but instead of going back as planned, he veered off in the direction of the training center.

As he entered the gym, he saw that it hadn’t changed since he’d gone, though perhaps some of the equipment had been replaced. No one else was around, which he was grateful for as he pulled off his long sleeve shirt and dropped it onto a bench. Left in his pants and an undershirt, he stretched his arms over his head as he went to pick up one of the staffs resting on a rack. Spinning it around in one hand, he walked over to a wooden practice dummy and rolled his neck once before settling into a defensive stance.

Keith took a long breath before taking a quick step forward and striking towards the top of the dummy. His staff made contact with a loud crack, and he followed it with a series of swipes and jabs. A couple of them missed here and there, but the majority landed on the dummy, adding new dents and scrapes to the well-used equipment. When he stopped, he was breathing hard.

“I’ve never been this out of shape in my life,” he muttered under his breath, frustrated that’d he’d gotten tired so quickly. He’d not been immobile while working at the ranch. Far from it. But ranch labor was a lot different than fighting, and he’d never really had time or reason to keep up with his training after he’d left. He had a feeling that even with a prosthetic, Shiro could beat him pretty easily right now.

With a huff, he fell into his stance again and started striking at the dummy once more. This time he focused on a series of drills that he’d been doing for years. He messed up a few times as he moved through the steps and strikes, but gradually it began to feel natural again. 

For a long while, all Keith could see and hear was the dummy in front of them and the cracks of his staff against the wood. He wasn’t necessarily sure how much time had passed, but eventually he paused. As he did, he heard the sound of knuckles rapping against the metal of the doorframe in a semblance of a knock. Turning to look around, Keith spotted Lance standing on the steps leading down to where Keith was standing. 

Fully dressed this time, Lance was in similar clothes to Keith, though the colors were different, and he wore a leather bomber jacket that Keith could see the blue and purple writing on from where he stood. 

“Doesn’t seem like you got rusty,” Lance commented from where he stood. Keith snorted and walked to put the staff back on its rack. “What? It was a compliment.”

“I’m very rusty,” Keith told him. “You’ve just caught me at the end of practicing. Not much reason for fighting on a cattle ranch.”

“You mean you don’t get to fight off wolves and stuff like they do in the movies?” Lance almost sounded a little disappointed as he said it, and Keith couldn’t help letting out a huffed laugh even as he rolled his eyes.

“No, and even if that had been an issue, it wouldn’t have been dealt with by using a wooden staff. We had guns.” Keith settled onto the floor and started stretching as he spoke, looking towards Lance, but not making eye contact.

“Then if you’re so rusty, wouldn’t it be better to practice against another person rather than the dummy?”

“Are you offering?” He looked straight at the other ranger as he asked the question, finally meeting his eyes for just a few seconds.

“No way!” Lance held up his hands in refusal. “I’ve already showered and finished my skin care regimen. I have no plans to get sweaty again for the remainder of the day.”

“Then what are you doing in here?” He looked down as he shifted positions.

“I heard someone banging around in here and wanted to see what was up,” Lance answered. “I should have guessed it would be you. Hunk and Pidge went to eat and I know that Coran and Allura were in here earlier. There wasn’t anyone else it could be.”

“Then why come look if you knew it was me?”

Lance shrugged. “I wanted to see how good you are. You and the Marshall are famous for the number of kills you got in such a short time being pilots, so I was curious.”

“And?”

“I kind of wonder why the Marshall thinks we’ll be compatible,” Lance said simply, much to Keith’s surprise. He’d been so caught up in his own doubts about Lance that he hadn’t considered that the other man might have reservations about him as well. “We have different fighting styles. I kind of get the impression that you’re much more of a head-on type of guy.”

“As opposed to what? You seem pretty headstrong yourself.”

“I’m just saying that a bit of defense is a good thing.”

“Hitting the dummy isn’t the same as fighting a person,” Keith reminded him. “If you think I’m lacking, then maybe you should show me a better way to go about it.” He didn’t really mean for it to sound like a challenge, but it came out that way nonetheless. However, Lance only shook his head with a light laugh.

“Did you completely miss me saying that I’m not planning on getting sweaty again today?” he asked. Keith couldn’t help but redden. He hadn’t forgotten, but Lance’s comments about his technique bothered him and he’d taken it as a bit of a hit to his pride, which was already bruised from his own knowledge that he was on the rusty side of things. 

“Of course not,” he said after a few seconds of silence. “You just seem keen to show me a thing or two so I figured you were wanting to go a round.”

“I think we can save that for tomorrow, don’t you? Normally, I’d be all for it,” Lance grinned as he spoke. “But if I’m going to show you up, I’d rather there be an audience.”

Keith scoffed and threw a half-hearted glare at Lance, who returned the look without hesitation. Something about Lance really threw him off balance. It annoyed him more than it pissed him off that he was having trouble figuring him out. He wanted to chalk it up to having only just met him, but it made him apprehensive about Shiro’s belief that they were drift compatible.

“Well if you’re not here to work out, then you should go eat or do whatever it was you were going to do,” he grumbled. He shifted and turned away from Lance as he settled into his next stretch, but he had the distinct feeling that he was still there, still watching him. After a moment of the uncomfortable feeling of being watched crawling up his spine, he straightened again and turned, opening his mouth to snap at Lance. 

“Lion’s Pride, Lion’s Pride,” the familiar voice of Iverson crackled over the speakers in the gym, interrupting what Keith was going to say. “Report to launch bay. I repeat, report to the launch bay for immediate launch. Lion’s Fury on standby.”

Keith looked towards the screen in the gym as it lit up with a rendered image of a kaiju, and walked forward to get a closer look. The sound of boots hitting the ground behind him told him that Lance was coming to join him, but he didn’t turn, focused instead on the rendering on the screen. A category 3 kaiju, codenamed Kamikaze, it looked almost like a scorpion, with a long stinger coming off the back end and six clawed legs. 

“That thing looks nasty,” Lance commented from behind him. “I don’t know who or what is behind these things, but they’re seriously twisted. It doesn’t look like any Cat 3 I’ve seen before.”

“The theory before I left was that they analyze what we do the same way we analyze them and try to adapt,” Keith murmured. “I remember hearing someone talking about that.”

“Pidge would be the one to talk to about theories,” Lance commented. “I tend to just fight what they put in front of me.”

“It’s not like I paid a whole lot of attention to it all myself,” Keith told him. “I just remember hearing about that in particular.” He turned away from the screen and walked past Lance so he could grab his shirt off the bench. He felt the other ranger watching him as he pulled the dark red fabric over his head, but Lance didn’t move away from the screen. 

“Are you not going to go watch?” he asked.

“Huh?” Lance blinked a couple of times, as if collecting his thoughts. “Oh, yeah.” He joined Keith and they both left the gym, headed for the observation deck, where they’d be able to watch the launch and keep an eye on things alongside some of the higher ups.

Jaeger techs and engineers ran past them towards the launch hangar as they walked, Keith just a couple of feet ahead of Lance. It had been a long time since Keith had watched a fight outside of his TV screen, and he’d forgotten how much adrenaline it created even when he wasn’t the one headed out to fight. His heart raced as they reached the elevator that would take them up to mission control, and Lance pressed the button as he joined Keith inside. 

The ride up was quiet, without the chaos of the hundreds of people running through the halls, and Keith started to feel a bit awkward again.

“I, um,” he murmured, second guessing himself the moment he opened his mouth. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to surprise you. Honestly, I didn’t know who was in there and I was trying to get into my stall before there was a chance to run into someone.”

“It’s fine,” Lance told him. “I tend to get caught up and stop paying attention to anything outside of what I’m doing. But here’s the real question.” He paused and turned to look at Keith, who only gave him a puzzled expression. “Did you like my singing?” He said it with a grin that made Keith want to hit him just as much as it made his heart stop for a split second. 

He broke eye contact, but he caught Lance’s smile falter as he did so. “That bad, huh?” 

“No!” Keith said quickly. “I just…I didn’t know what to say. Can’t say that I’m the best person to ask about quality singing. I don’t listen to a lot of music…but I guess I liked it.”

“Hunk and Pidge always tell me to shut up,” Lance commented. “But that’s no fun, so I just ignore them.”

Keith shrugged. Unless it kept him from sleeping or something, he didn’t particularly care. And he knew that the walls in the barracks were thick enough that the singing wouldn’t make it through both the door to the showers and the door to his room.

They lapsed into silence again until finally the elevator dinged and the doors opened up into mission control.

Shiro was already there, talking to Iverson who was relaying what he was saying into the mic in front of him. The four rangers being deployed would be on the other side, Keith knew. Keith walked up to stand beside his brother while Lance stepped off to one side, clearly feeling awkward about the idea of being so close to the Marshall.

“That thing looks nasty, Shiro,” Keith commented. “We saw the rendering down in the training center.”

“They keep getting nastier,” Shiro agreed. “Normally we’d only send out one team to deal with a cat 3, but these days, it’s not worth the risk. It’s better to have both Pride and Fury out there. We can’t have another incident like we did with Twilight Huntress.”

Keith couldn’t help but glance in Lance’s direction as Shiro mentioned Huntress, and he noticed the ranger’s expression darken at the mention of his destroyed jaeger. He’d lost his co-pilot that day, and the reminder had to be painful. 

“I ran into Coran,” he told Shiro. “He mentioned that he’s been working well with Allura.”

“I was glad for the both of them when they turned out to be compatible,” Shiro replied. “It’s not uncommon for compatibility to be passed through family. Doesn’t always happen, but Allura and Coran were lucky enough. It gives both of them a piece of Alfor, so it’s a little bit like he’s still here.”

“Their first kill was when they assisted Huntress, right?” Keith asked. Shiro nodded, turning his attention back towards the screens in front of him as Hunk and Coran’s voices came over the intercom system.

“Lion’s Fury, ready for launch,” Hunk announced.

“Lion’s Pride, ready for launch,” Coran echoed. 

“Alright, rangers,” Iverson confirmed. “Pride, rolling out in 3…2…1.” On his cue, the rolling platforms that Lion’s Pride stood on began to move forward. Keith watched as it proceeded towards the open hangar doors, where rain still poured in. Once it was halfway to the entranced, Iverson counted down for Lion’s Fury and then it began to move for the entrance as well.

Keith hadn’t forgotten how much he loved being in a jaeger, but the sudden wish that it was him out there was something he wasn’t used to feeling anymore. He watched through the monitors as Pride was lifted by the helicopters and propelled forward, headed for the drop point. Fury was right behind them, the pilots of both jaegers confirming final checks. 

“Remember rangers,” Iverson said into his mic. “We don’t know much about this one, but I’d suggest avoiding that tail and those claws if you can.”

“We’ll crack it open like the bug that it is,” Coran commented. “Don’t you worry!”

“Just be careful,” Shiro said, leaning into Iverson’s space so he could speak. “Take this thing out as quick as you can, but do not by any means take any unnecessary risks. We can’t afford to have either of you out of commission for too long. Not until we’ve got Lion’s Roar ready to go again.”

Keith and Lance exchanged a glance at the mention of Keith’s old jaeger. 

“No pressure there, huh?” Lance asked, earning a shrug from Keith. 

Despite his general misgivings about Lance, the desire to be back in a jaeger made him really hope that he’d be compatible with him. He’d never wanted Shiro to be more right than he did right now, and not just because Shiro desperately needed himself to be right too. 

After he’d left, Keith had thrown himself into work as soon as possible so he wouldn’t have time to think about how much he missed being a ranger. Now, standing back in mission control, he realized just how much he’d actually missed it.

“Approaching drop point,” Iverson reported. “Detatching in 10…9…8…” Keith looked on as the cameras on the helicopters focused in on the two jaegers, the displays split on the screen. “1. Detatching.”

The sound of the cables releasing wasn’t audible through the monitors, but Keith knew they had as both jaegers began to drop down towards the water below them. They landed with a solid impact, and the water splashed up to meet them, breaking against the hip region of each jaeger. 

“Kamikaze is about 100 meters out to the west of you,” Iverson reported. “Moving fast, so keep a close eye out.”

“Roger that,” Pidge’s voice responded. “No visual, but we’ve got it on the infrared.”

“I see something,” a new voice that Keith didn’t recognize commented. He realized immediately that this must be Allura, and he was surprised at how much she sounded like her father as she continued. “It’s underwater.”

“I see it too!” Pidge confirmed. “20 meters and closing!”

“Right then,” Coran said. “Let’s go!”

Keith watched the monitors as the kaiju burst from the water about 10 meters from Lion’s Pride, immediately striking out with the stinging tail that had been on the rendering. It was fast, but Coran and Allura saw it coming and dodged the attack, turning to grab the tail. Fury came up beside them, plasma cannon primed and ready to fire as they took aim. 

“Plasma cannon, firing in 3…2…1,” Pidge announced. On their cue, a ball of white-hot plasma burst from the cannon and slammed into the kaiju’s back. It didn’t seem to have much effect, however, and the kaiju yanked its tail back out of Pride’s grip.

Hands now free, Lion’s Pride activated its dual swords and lunged after the kaiju as Fury fired off two more shots of the plasma cannon. These shots took the kaiju in the face, and it reared back which Keith could only imagine was a horrific shriek.

Lion’s Pride struck out with one of its swords as the kaiju reared back, hitting one of its front legs. The superheated sword blade slid through the monster’s leg, severing it above the elbow. They continued to push forward, swinging with their second blade. This one caught it on the side of the head, and it lodged partway into the kaiju’s thick skull. 

The monster lashed out with the tail again, but Lion’s Pride wasn’t able to avoid it a second time, still pulling their blade from their quarry’s head as it struck. The stinger took them in the shoulder and Pride stumbled back a few steps as they wrenched their sword free. 

“Fury, get in there and assist!” Iverson snapped into the mic. 

“We’re on it, sir!” Hunk responded.

Keith watched, tenser than he’d been in years, as Fury activated their secondary weapon, a spiked chain whip. They cracked it once in the air before sending a strike toward the kaiju. Laced with electricity, Keith could practically hear it crackle as it struck Kamikaze on the side of the head, in just about the same place that Pride had hit with its sword. 

“Go for the head!” Allura shouted over the speakers as Fury whipped it a second time, this time catching it around its other front leg. 

The kaiju reared back again, trying to dislodge the whip, and Lion’s Pride came forward again with two more sword strikes. One missed as the kaiju writhed, but the second made connection with what would be its shoulder. 

“Missile launcher in 5…4…” Coran counted down, and two large rockets fired from Pride’s shoulders, each hitting home as they slammed into the Kamikaze’s underbelly. 

Keith watched as the blast cleared and couldn’t help but let out a hushed exclamation of excitement as the smoke cleared to show a gaping hole in Kamikaze’s shell.

“Charging plasma cannon,” Pidge’s voice crackled. “Pride, keep it upright!”

“Roger that!” Coran responded, and Lion’s Pride surged forward, grabbing at the kaiju’s throat and lifting as much as possible with one arm. They used the opportunity to jam their free sword up into its belly, creating a second wound, and Keith could practically hear it’s shrieks through the monitors. 

“They all work well together,” he commented to Shiro. “Reminds me of how we used to be.”

“You’ll be back up to snuff in no time,” his brother told him.

“Plasma cannon firing in 3…2…1!” Hunk shouted and everyone in mission control watched as five consecutive blasts collided into Kamikaze’s underbelly, slamming into the existing wounds and ripping the monster in half. Pride dropped the half it was holding and plunged one of their swords into its head as it fell.

“The signature is gone,” Iverson reported, watching the red dot on the radar disappear, leaving just the signatures of Lion’s Pride and Lion’s Fury. “Stand by for extraction and good work.” He sat back in his chair as all four pilots confirmed that they heard him and let out a breath of relief. “Good call on the double deployment, Marshall Shirogane,” he said.

“I’d rather spend the money to deploy both of them than have one destroyed and cost us a lot more,” Shiro commented. “This was the safest way to go.”

“So, who will the kill go to?” Keith asked. “The last two hits were so close together.”

“Both of them,” Shiro told him. “Can’t give them half a kill, so they’ll both get a full kill for it. Besides, can’t hurt to boost our numbers a little.”

Keith smiled a bit, looking back at the monitors to see both jaegers being lifted into the air by the helicopters, which quickly turned an began to head for home.

“Alright, the both of you need to go get some rest,” Shiro said, looking between both Keith and Lance. “We won’t run the trials until tomorrow afternoon, but I know you are both well aware of how much strain the drift can put on the body and I want you to be prepared for that.”

“Yes, sir,” Lance said quickly. Keith only nodded to his brother and waved a goodbye over his shoulder before going to join Lance at the elevator doors. “It’s really weird that you get to act so casually with him.”

“He’d probably get mad at me if I tried to be formal,” Keith explained. “He’s always been about blood coming first when it comes to that kind of thing.”

“But you aren’t blood.”

“You know what I mean,” Keith replied in an exasperated tone, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. He looked over at Lance to see him grinning and suddenly realized that the other man was just messing with him.

The ride down was quiet, but less awkward than the ride up had been, and as they both got off, Keith paused to let Lance off first. 

“Oh, you’re quite the gentleman,” Lance commented, and Keith rolled his eyes as he smiled. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Keith told him. They started walking back towards the barracks, keeping to one side so they weren’t in the way of the people rushing through the halls to prepare for the return of the two jaegers and their pilots.

“So,” Lance began, glancing at Keith as they walked. “What were you doing for the last two years?”

“Does it matter?” Keith asked. “I’m back here now.

“I guess not, but I’m curious so indulge me. There’s no for sure guarantee that we’ll be in each other’s heads tomorrow.”

“If you must know, I was working at a cattle ranch in Texas,” Keith told him. “Nothing particularly exciting.”

“Damn, you went all the way to Texas?”

“Before I was adopted by Shiro’s family, I lived there,” he explained. “My family is gone, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it there still.”

“Texas is too dry,” Lance commented. “My skin could never handle it.” Keith only rolled his eyes, not bothering to comment as they continued walking.

Lanced peeled off as they reached the door to his quarters, and Keith paused to glance back at him.

“Hope you’re ready for a fight tomorrow,” Lance said as he opened his door.

“I’m not the one who needs to be ready,” Keith replied. Lance snorted and went inside, closing the door firmly behind him. Keith kept his gaze on the door for a few seconds before turning away and going to his own room. Once he was inside, he only took the time to take off his boots before flopping onto the bed and promptly passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this story is living up to y'all's expectations. I honestly still don't know where it's going exactly, but we'll get there together. Please look forward to chapter 5, coming soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to update last week, but life is crazy. I'm on track to finish NaNoWriMo early, though, which means there's plenty more on the way once I do some editing and whatnot. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks, as always, to my betas.

Keith blinked his eyes open to darkness, and he let out a loud yawn as he reached out and fumbled around for his phone. He found it in the pocket of the fatigue pants he’d left on before going to sleep and groaned when he saw the time. 4:30. His body was still on Texas time, where it was his usual wake up time of 5:30. The difference wasn’t huge, but it was enough to make him want to roll back over. He knew himself well, however, and once he was up, he was up. There would be no going back to sleep. 

So instead, he sat up, stretching as he did so, and swung his feet over the side of the bed and shifted into a standing position. He let out another yawn as he walked to the sink and used a little bit of water to rinse his face off before starting to brush his teeth. In a little under ten minutes, he was walking down the hall of the barracks in workout clothes and headed toward the gym. 

It was predictably empty, and Keith settled down on the floor to stretch, putting his phone on the floor beside him after pulling up a playlist that had some good workout music on it. He stretched for several minutes before getting up and walking to one of the treadmills along the wall. Setting it for a twenty-minute run, Keith started jogging through the warm-up. 

Keith had been in the gym for a solid hour before he heard the faint sound of footsteps over the music he had playing. Taking a quick pause in the set of sit-ups he was doing, he reached for his phone so he could turn it off, looking up as he did so to see who was coming. Part of him was expecting Shiro, but it was Lance that he saw.

“You’re a liar,” Lance said as they made eye contact, and Keith’s face immediately slid into a confused scowl. “You said you didn’t listen to music.”

“Oh.” Keith visibly relaxed as he realized what Lance was talking about. “I didn’t say that I don’t listen to music. Just that I don’t listen to a lot of it.”

“You’ll have to get used to hearing more of it if we’re going to be partners,” Lance commented as he sat down to stretch a couple of yards from where Keith was. “I listen to it all the time.”

“And if you aren’t listening, you’re singing?”

“Or both.” Keith looked up, eyebrow raised. “What can I say. I’m musically inclined.”

“Yes, I got that impression.”

“Look who’s being a smart aleck now. And you acted like it was so above you when I made a joke last night.” 

Keith only shrugged before laying back to start another round of sit-ups. Lance continued to talk as he began.

“So how long have you been in here, anyway? It’s usually deserted this early in the morning.”

“What time is it now?” Keith asked between breaths. 

“Uh…” Keith didn’t look, but could assume that Lance was looking at a watch or a phone. “It’s a little after 5:45.”

“An hour or so, then,” he replied. “Woke up at 4:30.”

“Ew, why?”

“Still on Texas time. I always woke up at 5:30 to go for a run before starting my chores.”

“I guess that’s not quite so barbaric.”

“Plenty of people would say otherwise.”

“Yeah, well we don’t get much of a choice, do we?”

“No. When do the others start filtering in?”

“Not too long after me most mornings, but you’ll probably be gone by that time since you’ve already been here for so long.” 

“I’m just about done,” Keith confirmed. He pumped out a few more sit-ups before sitting upright and reaching for the towel he’d left beside his phone. He used it to wipe the sweat from his face before draping it over his shoulders and starting his cool down stretches. 

It had been easy to fall into his old routine, but it had been long enough that it burned a heck of a lot more than it used to and Keith had a fleeting thought that he might be a bit sore either later in the day or the next morning. 

“Headed out?” Lance asked, watching Keith get to his feet. He nodded and walked over to the bench where he’d left his water bottle. “See you later, then.”

“Later,” Keith replied, taking a swig of water as he started walking out of the gym. 

It was still early enough that the halls were empty, and Keith enjoyed the quiet. It would be nice while it lasted. He saw someone walking towards him from the barracks, and the white hair made him pause for a brief second before he realized that it wasn’t Alfor he was seeing, but his daughter.

“Good morning,” Keith said as he got closer to her. 

“Good morning,” she greeted. “You must be Keith. Coran told me you’d arrived, but I’m afraid I didn’t have the chance to introduce myself before we were deployed last night. I’m Allura.” She held out her hand and Keith took it in a firm shake.

“Keith, but I guess you knew that already.” 

“Yes, I suppose so. Are you coming back from the gym? Must’ve been up early. Is anyone else there?”

“My internal clock is a little messed up and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to just get an early start. Lance is there.”

The change was minute, but Keith could’ve sworn he saw Allura’s eyebrow twitch at the mention of Lance, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the two of them got along. He knew a lot about her father, and if they were anything alike, the chances were pretty low. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then,” Allura announced, jogging Keith back to the present. “I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, of course.”

They went their separate ways, and Keith ran into both Pidge and Coran as he reached the barracks. They both exchanged short greetings, and Pidge’s grumpy expression gave Keith the impression that they weren’t really up by choice. Even at 6 in the morning, Coran was cheerful, and Keith wondered how long it would be before Pidge snapped at him. 

Keith swung through his quarters long enough to collect clean clothes and his shower kit before heading straight for the showers. He took his time, knowing that there’d most likely be no one to bother him for a while. He let the hot water slowly soak his hair, enjoying the heat that gradually drove away the chill that always seemed to permeate the shatterdome. 

It was another half hour or so before he finally shut the water off and stepped out of the shower stall. Not wanting to end up feeling cold again, he dried off and dressed quickly before using his towel to start drying his hair. Once he was satisfied, he hung the towel around his neck and picked up his shower caddy to leave. 

Outside the showers, he saw Lance just entering the hallway, but didn’t say anything as he walked to his door. 

“Hey, Kogane,” Lance called out. “You do know what a brush is, right? Your hair is a disaster.”

Keith paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked back towards him. 

“It’s just wet,” he said. 

“If you say so. I just can’t help but wonder about a guy with a mullet.” That comment made Keith redden, and he subconsciously raised a hand to the back of his head.

“I just...haven’t had a chance to get it cut in a while.” No one on the ranch had really cared what his hair looked like, so he’d only gotten it cut every four or five months as opposed to the two-month schedule he’d been on before leaving. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Between dry skin and a borderline mullet, I really question your self-awareness.” He said it with a laugh, so Keith knew he was probably mostly kidding, but it still bothered him a bit. 

“Are you going to just keep commenting on my appearance?” Keith asked, face still flushed. 

“Sorry, man,” Lance said with a shrug. “Honestly, I do it to everyone if I look at them long enough.” He paused and looked away abruptly as he suddenly realized that he’d essentially admitted to watching Keith. “Uh…I didn’t mean it like that. Don’t get me wrong, of course. You have a nice face, but it’s not like I’m looking at you all the time. Just some of the time.”

“Lance, stop. You’re rambling,” Keith told him.

“You’re right, I definitely am, so I’m just gonna go ahead and go to my room and you can go to yours and we can pretend this conversation never happened? Cool? Cool.” Lance practically ran the remaining distance to his door and all but slammed it behind him, leaving Keith alone again. 

“Uh…sure,” he said to the empty hallway, and finally turned the door handle that he’d still been holding onto. In the back of his mind, he knew exactly where he was headed after breakfast. Lance’s comments may have bothered him a bit, but he wasn’t wrong. He was in desperate need of a haircut.

Keith waited in his room for a few minutes after running a brush through his messy hair, to see if Lance was going to head to the shower. When minutes passed and he heard nothing, he opened his door and left. Pidge, Coran, and Allura were returning as he left. 

“Headed for the mess hall?” Coran asked.

“You’ll probably find Hunk there,” Pidge commented when Keith nodded. “He decided to bail on this morning’s workout.”

“Can’t blame him,” Keith replied. “You guys did kill a kaiju last night. I would’ve slept in too.”

“Well that’s a load of you-know-what,” came Coran’s voice. “You and the Marshall never skipped your morning workouts, even after your toughest fight.”

“I swear on my life that it wasn’t by choice most of the time,” Keith told him. “You can ask Shiro yourself how many times he had to drag me out of bed.”

“Well, I believe you at least,” Allura murmured. Keith gave her a grateful smile as she started to gently nudge Coran to get him moving again. She looked back over her shoulder as they started walking. “We’ll see you later, Keith.”

Keith watched them go for a few seconds before continuing on his way, headed towards the mess hall for some breakfast. Now well past 6, there were a fair number of people walking through the halls. Many of them were headed in the same direction he was, and it wasn’t long before he was walking into the mess hall. He spotted Hunk sitting at one of the corner tables as he went to get himself some food.

The line was growing, but moving quickly, and before long, Keith was walking over to join Hunk with his tray in hand. He greeted the ranger as he sat down on the other side of the table, and Hunk had to stifle a yawn as returned it.

“You did good work last night,” Keith commented. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed this until I was watching the four of you from mission control. I wish I’d be out there.”

“It would have been a lot harder if Marshall Shirogane had only sent one of us out, that’s for sure,” Hunk told him. 

“That kaiju was a nasty one,” he agreed. 

“So how are you feeling about being back?”

“I was feeling apprehensive at first. If anyone but my brother had asked, I would have said no, but I’ve never been able to refuse Shiro when he wanted me to do something.”

“So, you’re feeling better about it now?”

“Like I said, I hadn’t realized just how much I missed all of this.”

“What do you think of Lance?”

“Am I terrible for saying that my first thought was that he’s arrogant?”

“No, not really,” Hunk told him. “I think a lot of people think that too.”

“For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me. Shiro seems to believe there’s more to him than meets the eye, but I feel like he’s a bit shallow. I don’t know him that well, obviously but...”

“So, what did he comment on?” Hunk said it like he was very used to hearing people complain about Lance saying things about them.

“It was my skin yesterday and my hair today. He tried to then tell me that he hasn’t been looking at me that much.” Hunk started laughing then, and Keith couldn’t help but to give him a confused look. “What?”

“If you tell him that I told you this, he’ll probably kill me, but he’s practically idolized you and the Marshall for years.”

“He’s what?”

“When we were still in the academy, he couldn’t stop talking about the two of you and your accomplishments in Lion’s Roar. When the news came out that the Marshall lost his arm and you quit, I swear he was heartbroken.” 

“That doesn’t explain the comments on my appearance,” Keith said. 

“Yeah, well, he’s got all kinds of photos of you from a few years ago. Both of you…mostly you.” Hunk looked a little uncomfortable as he said it. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.”

“I won’t say a word if you don’t,” Keith assured him. “Besides, if my brother is right about the two of us being compatible, I’d probably find out anyway.”

“Find what out?” Hunk just about jumped out of his skin as a voice other than Keith’s or his own spoke up. Both of them turned to see Pidge standing there with their tray.

“Oh, thank God it’s just you,” Hunk breathed out, relaxing as his partner sat down beside him.

“Just me? Gee, thanks,” they commented with a quick roll of their eyes that only Keith noticed. They were smiling, though, and he had a feeling that even if Pidge didn’t overhear any of it, they’d get it out of Hunk pretty quickly if they wanted to.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Hunk protested. 

“I know, but if you’re going to gossip, I’d suggest paying more attention to your surroundings unless someone overhears something you don’t want them to.” They paused to take a bite of food and continued with a somewhat full mouth. “But in Lance’s case, he won’t make it in here for a while. That skin care routine of his takes forever.”

“Has he ever been in the middle of it when a kaiju emerged?” Keith asked, genuinely curious if it had ever caused any problems and if it was something he’d have to worry about in the future.

“Mm…not that I can recall,” Pidge told him, starting to laugh as they thought about that scenario. “But I can imagine him being pretty annoyed. He’d burst into the prep room with his face mask still on, insisting that it has to stay on or he’ll have to start all over again when he gets back.”

Keith couldn’t help but let out a small huff of laughter as he pictured it. 

“So, you were talking about Lance, huh?” Pidge asked, and Keith nodded.

“I was just asking Keith what he thought of him,” Hunk explained. 

“And what do you think of him?” 

“Arrogant, but perhaps generally well-meaning,” Keith replied. “I talked with Shiro about him a bit yesterday, and he told me about some of the troubles Lance had at the academy. Hearing all of you talk about him, I’m kind of starting to see why he thinks we’ll be compatible.”

“Stranger things have happened. I mean, look at Coran and Allura. They seem like total opposites, but they do great together.”

“But Coran was partnered with Allura’s father before he died, so it’s not that surprising,” Keith explained. They probably already knew that, but if they’d never met Alfor, it would be harder to understand. “Alfor was always really serious, but Coran could bring out his lightheartedness like nobody else. And he was one of the few people who could temper Coran’s eccentricities a bit. I get the impression that Allura is very much the same.”

“Huh…” Pidge seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, absently adjusting their glasses. “I suppose you’re right. They do seem to balance each other out. Didn’t pick you for the observant type.”

“That’s because I’m not. Shiro’s the one who’s always been good at reading people and he talked a lot about how interesting Coran and Alfor’s relationship was.” He paused to drain what was left in his coffee mug. “We talked briefly about him and Allura last night. Anyway, I’m gonna head out. I want to take care of some things before this afternoon.”

Both Pidge and Hunk nodded as he stood up with his empty tray in hand, and he said a quick goodbye before heading for the exit, dropping off the tray on the way out. He had to dodge around people as he left the mess hall, now crowded with techs and engineers rushing to eat before getting started with the day’s work. 

Keith wound his way through the familiar halls until he reached the uniform depot. The administrators sitting at the desk near the door looked up as he walked by, but he kept going until he reached the room beside it, with an etched glass door that read BARBER. 

A bell jingled above his head as he pushed the door open and walked inside, and the young woman sitting at a desk looked up. 

“Good morning! Here for a cut?” she greeted brightly. Keith nodded and she got up from her seat. “Then go on and have a seat in front of that mirror.” 

Keith did as he was told and settled into the chair placed in front of counter with a large mirror. The woman followed him over, collecting a black sheet from the counter and pulling a rolling cart towards her as she sat down on a stool just behind him.

“Now, what are you looking for today?” she asked. “Wanting to get rid of some of this length?”

“Exactly,” Keith told her. “I don’t want it high and tight, but it definitely needs to be shorter. I hadn’t realized how much it was getting into mullet territory.”

“Alright! That won’t be a problem at all.” She draped the sheet over Keith and fastened it behind his neck as she spoke. He listened as she rattled through a couple of the drawers on her cart.

“You know, I’m not sure I’ve seen you in here before,” she commented, setting a couple of things down on top of the cart. “I’m Angela.”

“Keith,” he replied. “How long have you been here?”

“Only a year or so. How about you? New recruit?”

“Not exactly.”

“Ooh, mysterious.” She laughed as she started taking pins and using them to pin parts of his hair back.

“I was a ranger up until a few years ago,” Keith told her. “I came back because the Marshall asked me to.”

“I’ve heard things are getting tough for you lot,” she murmured. “But, in any case, welcome back.” Keith only hummed slightly in response, closing his eyes as she got to work with cutting his hair. 

After half an hour or so, with light chatting throughout, Angela sat back and leaned to reach a mirror on her cart, holding it behind Keith’s head so he could see the reflection in the mirror in front of him. 

While before his hair had been long enough that it had begun to touch his shoulders, now it only reached about an inch past his ears. He could see a couple of places in the back where it curled up on its own, but he’d learned a long time ago that there was no stopping that. She’d shortened up his bangs and the hair around his ears, giving him a much cleaner look that reminded him a little bit of his academy days. 

“How’s that?” Angela asked. “Do you want me to take a little more off anywhere?”

“No, this is great,” Keith told her. “Thank you very much. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a haircut.”

“I could tell,” she commented cheerfully, unfastening the sheet around his shoulders and pulling it off of him. She shook it out a couple of times as he stood up and walked towards the desk she’d been sitting at when he arrived. 

“Do I owe you anything?” he asked, and she shook her head. Rangers had received free haircuts before he’d left, but he wasn’t sure if that had changed.

“Nope! You’re good to go. Just promise that you’ll come back before it gets too long again.”

“I will.” 

Angela sat back down at her desk as Keith left, and he ran a hand through his much shorter hair as he walked down the hall. He wasn’t sure where he was headed exactly, but he still had several hours to kill.

As it got later and later in the morning, Keith felt his nerves start to come back as he thought about the trial with Lance coming up that afternoon. When lunch time came around, he got his tray of food and took it back out of the mess hall instead of joining the other rangers. Lance wasn’t with them, but he still didn’t feel like talking with any of them at the moment. Instead, he walked to a corridor that overlooked the launch bay and climbed up several flights of stairs until he reached one of the many metal platforms that were usually used by the jaeger techs and engineers to do maintenance or repairs. This one, though currently not extended, was level with Lion’s Roar’s reactor core. 

He sat and ate in silence, looking up at the jaeger. As he sat there, he knew that there was nothing he wanted more than to be back in the conn-pod. And for the first time, he didn’t care quite as much that Shiro could never be his co-pilot again. The two of them had done great things together in Lion’s Roar, but Keith was finally starting to believe that he could do those same things with another pilot. With Lance, he hoped.

After a while, Keith began to hear the telltale sounds of people returning to the launch bay, their breaks at an end, and he pulled himself to his feet. Empty tray in hand, he started back towards the mess hall, moving quickly down the flights of stairs until he finally reached the bottom. The mess hall was almost completely empty when he reached it, and he didn’t stay long enough to see if he recognized any of the faces still there. He simply dropped off his tray and left again.

He wandered the shatterdome aimlessly, half reacquainting himself with the base and half trying to curb the nervousness that had been building since the morning. The more he got comfortable with the idea of being and wanting to be Lance’s co-pilot, the more he became nervous and worried that this would all end up just like every other attempt he’s made at finding a partner other than his brother. This time the pressure was higher than ever, with the jaeger program struggling more and more with each attack that resulted in a destroyed or incapacitated team. Part of him felt like there was a lot riding on his ability to work with someone new, and that wasn’t helping at all.

After wandering for an hour or so, a glance at the nearest clock told Keith that it was getting close to 1 o’clock, which meant the moment of truth was upon him. Having been headed in the general direction of the launch bay again, he turned around and started walking toward the training center. 

When he got there, it was almost empty except for Shiro and Adam. The latter of the two was sitting on a bench, scrolling through something on a tablet while Shiro seemed to be just sort of relaxing against the wall. He looked up, hearing the sound of Keith’s footsteps and smiled as he approached. 

“Nice haircut,” he said once Keith was closer to where he leaned against the wall by the weapons rack. “What prompted that?”

“It was way too long,” Keith said simply. “I only let it get that way because I just didn’t think about it at the ranch.”

“It didn’t look bad long,” Shiro offered, but Keith only shrugged as he sat down by Adam and started to remove his boots. 

“Didn’t see you at all this morning,” Adam commented, not looking up from the tablet. A quick glance at it gave Keith a glimpse at some kind of very complicated weapon design, and he wondered for a brief second if this was the project that Shiro had mentioned in passing the day before. 

“I was around,” he answered. “Was just trying remember where everything was.”

“You should come by the engineering labs at some point. I’m sure Matt would love to say hi.”

“If all of this goes well and I get to stay, then I will.”

“You know you can stay even if it doesn’t, right? No one is going to kick you out and it’s just dumb for you to run away again.” Adam finally looked up from his tablet when Keith didn’t answer. Instead, he was just looking at the ground. “Sorry, you know what I meant. Shiro’s right. You aren’t useless outside of a conn-pod.”

“That’s what people keep telling me, but I’ve yet to see proof.” Keith stood up then and stripped off his long-sleeve shirt, just as he’d done the night before when he’d come to practice. Leaving it beside Adam, he walked toward where Shiro was standing.

“He means well,” his brother murmured quietly, low enough that Adam wouldn’t be able to hear. “He’s never been the world’s best talker.”

“I know. I’m just in my head a bit.” He picked up a staff as he spoke and walked idly towards the practice dummies. “I hope you know that I want this to go well.”

“So do I, little brother. And not just for my sake, but for yours as well.” Keith turned to give Shiro a confused look, but he only shook his head. “If you don’t know what I mean, then you’ll have to figure it out.”

“Really, Shiro? Riddles?” 

“It’s not a riddle.” 

“Sure, it’s not.” Keith didn’t wait for Shiro to respond as he took his stance, getting ready to spend a few minutes warming up. He struck the dummy once as hard as he could before falling into a sequence of steps and strikes that took him in a circle around it. After a minute or so, he came to a stop, shoulders rising and falling as he worked to slow down his breathing.

“Would you rather spar an actual person?” Shiro suggested from his right, and Keith looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. “It’s been a while, right? Just because I can’t pilot a jaeger anymore doesn’t mean I don’t still know my way around a mat.”

“You sure you want to wrinkle that fancy uniform you’ve got on?” Keith asked. Shiro just rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the wall to walk over to where Adam sat. He started unbuttoning the jacket of his uniform as he went, and laid it gently on the bench before walking back to the weapons rack and picking up a staff.

“Show me what you’ve got, Ranger,” Shiro said, taking up a position on the mat. Keith went to join him, and Adam put down his tablet as he lifted the staff up in front of him, holding it like a two-handed sword.

“$50 on Shiro,” Adam said aloud.

“Aren’t you a bit biased?” Keith asked, turning his head just slightly so that he could see Shiro’s husband out the corner of his eye. 

Shiro took the brief moment of distraction as his chance to attack, and he lunged forward, aiming for Keith’s side with a two-handed strike. Keith turned back just in time to leap to the side and turn to block the attack. Their weapons met with a loud crack and Keith backed off a step or two, beginning to carefully circle the ring.

“That was a cheap shot,” Keith commented. “Since when do you go in for tricks?”

“Since you let yourself get distracted,” Shiro replied with a smile. Keith rolled his eyes before moving to one side with a sharp cut. He lifted his leg and moved just enough to indicate that he was going to move again, but feinted right as Shiro shifted to meet him, instead moving to the opposite side and delivering a sharp hit to his shoulder. Shiro winced at the hit, and this time he was the one backing off a step.

“1-0,” Keith told him. “How long do you want to go, by the way?”

“Best two out of three. Don’t want you to get tired before the real fight.”

“I’m not that out of shape.” They were circling again.

“No, but we’ll have an audience soon and I’m sure you don’t want everyone to see me beat you.”

They moved at the same time, and the staffs met with another loud crack that echoed throughout the room. Shiro surged forward with multiple strikes, and Keith just managed to block each of them, having to step back each time. On the last blow, Shiro feinted and struck out towards Keith’s leg. He didn’t move away fast enough, and the staff caught him behind the knee. Shiro used this chance to trip him, and Keith landed flat on his back with a thud. With the wind knocked out of him, Keith opened his eyes to see Shiro standing over him and feel the end of the staff pressed against the underside of his chin.

“1-1.”

“Ow.” Shiro laughed and held out a hand to Keith, who scowled as he took it and let his brother haul him back to his feet. As they’d fought, Coran and Allura had wandered in and were sitting on one of the other benches, just watching. Keith suddenly felt embarrassed knowing that they’d just seen him land flat on his back.

“Ready for the last round?” Shiro asked. Keith answered by charging at him. Shiro moved to block his attack, but Keith cut to one side at the last second and moved to land a blow on his back. Shiro turned just in time to block the attack, but it put him off balance and Keith went on the offensive. His brother managed to block each blow that was thrown at him, but Keith kept pushing him backward until they reached the edge of the mat. He went to swing for Shiro’s shoulder as he had before, but this time Shiro ducked under and backed up towards the center of the mat again. Keith came forward cautiously, flipping the staff in his hands a couple of times as he did so. 

“You almost had me there,” Shiro commented. “Why’d you hesitate?”

“I didn’t.”

“Looked like it to me. Or maybe you’ve just gotten slow.”

“Taunting me won’t work, Shiro.” 

Shiro came forward to strike at Keith’s legs again, but he avoided the attack and as they both started to strike quickly at each other, the sound of the staffs colliding filled the air. Shiro swung at Keith’s legs once again, and Keith jumped straight up to clear it. As he landed, he cut to the right and swung. This time, Shiro’s staff didn’t rise to meet his and he froze about an inch from his neck.

“2-1,” Keith breathed.

“Nope,” Shiro murmured, and his eyes flicked downwards as Keith cocked his head in confusion. Following the movement, Keith looked down and saw that the end of Shiro’s staff was about half an inch from his abdomen. “I call that a tie.”

“So it is,” Keith conceded. He took a step back, letting the end of his staff drop to hit the floor. “God, I wish you could still pilot.”

“You have no idea how often I think the same thing,” Shiro told him. “Felt good to spar again. We should keep doing this on occasion, maybe start up our old morning workouts. Otherwise I’m going to get fat from sitting around so much.”

Keith laughed and used his arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead before holding a hand out to Shiro. His brother took it and squeezed, smiling as he did so. 

Gentle clapping pulled their attention back to the rest of the room, and Keith realized that now Hunk and Pidge were beside Allura and Coran, Pidge clapping excitedly. Lance was there too, standing at the top of the steps and just watching. Suddenly feeling sheepish, Keith walked over to the bench where he’d left his stuff and laid the staff in his hands down against it as he reached for a bottle of water that Adam handed to him. 

“Guess I don’t get my $50,” he murmured, picking his tablet back up. 

“I never agreed to that, so you wouldn’t have gotten it anyway,” Keith reminded him. As he took a few minutes to cool off from the match with Shiro, Keith kept an eye on Lance out of the corner of his eye. The other man was over at a bench by Hunk and Pidge, taking off his boots and chatting with them for a moment or two. It wasn’t long before he walked over onto the mat and sat down to stretch. Keith stood up straight and started to go an join him, but he was interrupted by Shiro, who had finished put his uniform jacket and shoes back on and was walking to stand at the end of the mat, beside the monitor and weapons rack.

“Rangers Kogane and McClain,” he announced. “Are you ready to begin?”

Keith nodded at his brother from where he stood near Adam and pick up his staff again. He looked around to see if Lance wanted a hand up, but he was already on his feet and walking towards the weapons rack. So instead, Keith walked to the center of the mat, standing so that he was facing where Shiro stood.

“Alright,” Shiro murmured once Lance was standing opposite him, staff in hand. “I’ll give you both a couple of rounds to warm up if you want them.”

“That would be fine with me,” Keith said. “Lance?”

“Sure, that’s fine,” the other man said. His voice was quieter than it usually was, and Keith wondered if maybe Lance was nervous about this just like he was. He’d seemed fine in the morning, but then Keith had been too. His nerves had started to build after his workout, and it hadn’t been until he sparred with Shiro that he started to relax.

“Very well. We’ll say two rounds, 30 seconds for each unless someone lands a hit,” Shiro confirmed. “Start when you’re ready.”

Keith slowly shifted his feet, grounding himself as he spun the staff in his hand once before holding it with both of his hands, one at either end. Lance took another step forward, taking a deep breath before holding the staff in front of him in a two-handed grip. His eyes were on Keith, but he didn’t seem to be focused so much on the task in front of him rather than just looking at Keith.

“Any day now,” Pidge called out, and Lance shook his head like their voice had jarred him back into reality.

“Are you good?” Keith asked carefully. 

“Fine, sorry,” Lance replied. He readied himself again, and Keith waited another couple of seconds before using his left foot as a springboard to cut diagonally to the right, towards Lance’s left side. As he landed, he immediately pivoted, using the momentum to aim a strike at his opponent’s leg and shoulder. Lance blocked them both with quick parries before he went for Keith’s abdomen. He feinted however and dropped down to try to sweep Keith’s leg, finding success as his foot collided with Keith’s ankle and sent him to the ground.

As he hit the ground for the second time in less than an hour, Keith rolled backwards out of Lance’s range and regained his feet, breathing hard. 

“And here I thought for a second that you weren’t focused,” he commented. 

“You almost had me,” Lance replied.

“It’s not about who wins and who loses in the end,” Keith told him, starting to circle around the edge of the mat as he’d done with Shiro. “I want this to work.”

“I’m scared that it’s not going to,” Lance answered, taking careful steps to keep Keith in front of him. Keith nodded once in understanding before darting forward, trying to land a hit on Lance’s abdomen. Once again, however, Lance seemed to be able to read his moves and blocked it. When their staffs collided, Keith leaned in, a feigned effort overpower Lance. “Seeing you and the Marshall move like that made me feel…never mind.” It was said only loud enough for Keith to hear.

“Feel what?”

“I said never mind.” Lance heaved forward, pushing Keith away from him and immediately charging forward with a quick flurry of strikes. Knocked off balance, Keith was forced to defend as Lance threw hit against hit against him. He did well with blocking each one right up until the last, which moved just fast enough that he couldn’t catch it in time and the end of Lance’s staff smacked into his upper arm. “My point. Sorry if it stung.”

Keith shrugged, but he could already tell that it was going to bruise. “Wanna go again?” he asked, vaguely thinking that he’d like a little payback before the real trial started, but Lance shook his head. “Okay, then…I think we’re good, Shiro.”

Keith looked over at his brother, who nodded and walked to the edge of the mat as both Keith and Lance moved to either side. 

“Alright…first to 4 points takes the win, but remember this isn’t about the fight. It’s meant to be a conversation of sorts,” Shiro told them. “This is about compatibility and trust.”

Keith spun the staff a few times in his hands, bringing it around behind him once before taking up a two-handed grip at one end. Lance mimicked his stance from across the mat, and the room fell silent as the onlookers waited for either of them to make a move.

Lance was the first to move, bursting into motion as he took three long strides towards Keith, pivoting as he struck towards Keith’s head. Bringing his own staff up quickly. Keith was able to block the attack and brought his staff around towards Lance, who shifted to try to parry the attack but was too slow. Keith’s strike stopped just an inch from Lance’s forehead, the staff trembling ever so slightly.

“1-0,” Keith breathed. “Don’t get cocky just because you got a point on me earlier.”

Lance knocked Keith’s staff to one side and took a step back, bringing his weapon up overhead head and shifting quickly into a downward strike. Keith lifted his own staff to meet it and they collided with a crack before they separated just long enough for Lance to fire back a retort.

“I’m not.” He came forward again and Keith quickly moved to block his attack. They both moved quickly back and forth across the mat, neither seeming to gain any real advantage over the other.

The longer they went, Keith found himself smiling and he could only hope that Lance was feeling the same connection that he was almost certain existed between them. They were too good at reading each other’s moves not to be and he felt his heart practically singing. It was just enough of a distraction that he didn’t notice how close he was getting to the edge of the mat until a hand grabbed his and yanked him forward and the end of Lance’s staff was suddenly touching his throat. Lance’s face was only inches from his, and a triumphant grin spread across his face.

“1-1,” he murmured. “Don’t get distracted.”

“Sorry,” Keith said quickly. He turned his head to glance at Shiro, who nodded for them to continue, his expression pleased. “Won’t happen again.”

They both took up starting positions again, and this time Keith was the first to make a move. Moving diagonally towards Lance, he rolled forward onto his shoulders, trying to use his staff to trip Lance up. It met air, however, as Lance leapt away. Keith was on his knees when Lance’s next attack came, and he raised the staff just in time to block it and push upwards, using the momentum to regain his feet. He directed three quick strikes at Lance, one to each side and the last straight at his abdomen. The other man blocked the first two, but wasn’t quite fast enough on the last and Keith froze as the end of his staff grazed Lance’s chest.

“2-1.”

Keith grinned and Lance narrowed his eyes, watching Keith as if he were studying him. Neither of them moved for several seconds, until Lance exploded into motion, moving just a little bit too fast for Keith to keep up and he only blocked one attack before a blow aimed for his forehead stopped between his eyes. 

“2-2,” said Lance, the smile on his face starting to reach his eyes. Keith spun away from him quickly, aiming a strike at Lance’s legs as he backed away. It made contact with his thigh and Lance yelped a bit as it did and his smile turned into a scowl. “Hey!” 

“3-2. You hit me earlier,” Keith reminded him. “Just wanted to return the favor.”

“Focus, both of you,” Shiro called out, and Keith glanced over at him, face sheepish. Despite the stern tone in his voice, Shiro still looked like he was happy with what he was seeing, and Keith turned away to refocus on Lance, who’d backed away a few steps.

They reset once more and both of them started to circle at almost the exact same moment, watching each other carefully. Going in for a feint, Keith half-cut to the right before pivoting and quickly changing direction. Lance moved to meet him, and their staffs collided harshly. Keith quickly changed course and started using the staff to try and hit Lance in several places, his hands at either end. Lance blocked each one, with a couple of close calls, and suddenly surged forward to try to put Keith on the defensive. Quickly, Keith found himself backed almost to the edge of the mat again, and he narrowed his eyes. He knew Lance was going to come forward again, and he had to time his next move just right for it to work. So, instead of charging forward, he waited for Lance to take a step to close the distance between them. The moment he did, Keith spun on his heel towards his back and used his staff to catch the back of Lance’s ankle, sending him crashing to the ground. Keith quickly stepped over him and held the end of his staff to Lance’s throat. 

“4-2,” he said quickly, before stepping away and offering him a hand up. “Looks like I win.”

Lance reached up and took his hand, and Keith pulled him back up to his feet. Lance squeezed his hand and shook it before letting go, and both of them turned to look at Shiro. He was looking down at the tablet in his hands, and was quiet for a moment before looking up again.

“So, how do the two of you feel?” he asked.

“Good,” Keith said, glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eye. “Shiro, I think you were right. I’ve never felt such a strong connection to anyone other than you on this mat.”

“And you, Lance?”

Lance took a long breath, and Keith’s blood went cold at the sudden thought that he might not agree. But he’d seen the smile on Lance’s face as they fought. He had to have felt it too.

“I get the feeling that he’s a bit of a hot-head,” Lance finally said, looking at Keith and meeting his gaze with blue eyes crinkled slightly with a smile. “But he’s my new co-pilot. No doubt about it.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong there,” Shiro commented. “I agree with the both of you, and I’m happy to see that there’s a clear connection between the two of you. I hope it will continue to grow. It’s still early in the afternoon, but I’ve been called into a meeting and we’ll have to pick this up tomorrow. You’re going into Lion’s Roar first thing tomorrow morning, so make sure that you get a good night’s sleep. The first time you drift with someone can be rough, as I’m sure you both know.”

Lance turned to smile at Keith, and though he’d done so several times since their fight had begun, this one was something else. His eyes seemed to shine, and he looked genuinely happy to have Keith as his partner. They both stepped off the mat and went to put their weapons back on the rack before going to retrieve their shoes and other belongings. As Keith stopped beside Adam and bent to pick up his shirt, a tap on his shoulder made him turn again to see Lance behind him.

“I like the haircut, by the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, the drift! Chapter 6 is longer than this one by a solid 2k or so, so I hope it'll be worth the wait. Hoping to get it up sometime next week.
> 
> Kudos and comments are welcome as always!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post again! November was wild, but I hit 50k for the month, so I promise there's plenty more of this story to come.
> 
> Thanks as always to my awesome beta reader. No one better to turn to when I need ideas or opinions.

Keith opened his mouth to reply to Lance, but his mind went blank and the other man only smiled, blue eyes shining as he walked away. Embarrassed, Keith looked down at the bench and forced himself to focus on putting his boots back on. 

“That was smooth,” Adam commented from beside him, and Keith hit him in the leg as he was bent over tying up his laces.

“Shut up, Adam,” he grumbled, refusing to look up from his shoes even though he could tie the bootlaces with his eyes closed having done it so many times. When he stood up straight again and started to pull his shirt back on, he intentionally kept his back to Lance, not wanting him to see the red that he was fairly sure still colored his cheeks. 

“Good to see that you’ve still got some moves,” Coran said from his side, and Keith looked over to him. “I know congratulations aren’t in order just yet, but I’d say it looks promising.”

“Yes, I agree entirely,” Allura commented from just behind him. She stepped up to Coran’s side, smiling. “I’m looking forward to fighting alongside the two of you soon.”

“Thank you,” Keith murmured. “Honestly, I was terrified that Shiro’s hunch would be wrong. I’d trust him with my life, but past experience still had me doubtful that this would work out.”

“Glad to hear that you have so much confidence in me,” Shiro said from behind him, making him jump. 

“Did you not hear the part where I said I’d trust you with my life?”

“You have. Many times,” Shiro reminded him. “I’m very happy with this first trial. I’m confident that tomorrow will go well. We need a win right now, so getting the two of you out there in Lion’s Roar is important.”

“No pressure, then.”

Shiro only shook his head as Coran and Allura said their quick farewells before leaving. Looking over towards the exit, Keith saw that Lance, Hunk, and Pidge had already left. Now alone with just his brother and Adam, Keith looked back at Shiro.

“Thank you,” he murmured. “I’m know you’re saying ‘I told you so’ in your head, and you were right. I can feel a strong connection with Lance. I wasn’t too sure after first meeting him, but now…I know for sure that I want to be his co-pilot.”

“I’m glad,” Shiro told him. “Even if I can’t join you out there, I’m glad that you’re getting back in that jaeger. Now, go get a shower and relax a bit.”

Keith nodded, giving both his brother and Adam a quick one-armed hug before making his way out of the gym. Walking the short distance back to the barracks, Keith ran one hand through his sweat damp hair and stretched his neck a bit. And once he was back in his quarters, he was quick to collect a clean uniform, towel, and his shower kit.

As he stepped into the shower for the second time that day, Keith thought back on the fight with Lance. It had felt almost natural sparring with him, like he’d been doing it for years rather than the first time. The only time he’d ever felt anything remotely similar was when he sparred Shiro, and that alone was enough to convince him that they were meant to be partners. They wouldn’t know for sure until the next morning, but after their match, Keith knew deep in his gut that it would go smoothly. 

As he worked shampoo into his hair, he heard the sound of the door to the showers open and close. The brief thought that it might be Lance was confirmed as humming grew louder and then faded as he walked past Keith’s stall. Soon the sound of running water got louder as Lance turned on his shower and closed the stall door behind him. It wasn’t long before whatever song Lance had been humming got louder and became singing. Keith hadn’t been able to figure out what it was just from the humming, but he realized as Lance sang that it was the last song he’d been listening to during his workout that morning, right before Lance had arrived. 

“Hold on to the world we all remember fighting for  
There’s some strength left in us yet  
Hold on to the t world we all remember dying for  
There’s some hope left in it yet

Arise and be all that you dreamed  
All that you dreamed  
Arise and be all that you dreamed  
All that you dreamed  
Arise and be all that you dreamed  
All that you dreamed…”

Keith almost wanted to speak up as the singing tapered off, and say that he didn’t peg Lance as someone who’d know that song, but he held his tongue. He knew Lance had picked that on purpose, but he wasn’t going to bring it up while they were both showering. Instead, he did his best to focus on getting himself clean as Lance switched to a new song. Like the one the night before, he didn’t know it, but it seemed to be upbeat and he wondered briefly if Lance was dancing as he sang. He’d look good dancing, Keith thought before mentally kicking himself for thinking of the other ranger like that. 

Sure, he was fairly certain that Lance had flirted with him once or twice, but he also seemed like the kind of guy who might flirt with everyone. There was nothing to say that it was out of genuine interest…other than the pictures that Hunk claimed that Lance had and that he’d promised he wouldn’t mention knowing about. Well, that was probably going to go out the window in the morning. The drift would take care of that. 

Lance was still singing as Keith turned off the water and stepped out of the shower stall. He dried himself off as best he could before he started to get dressed. Knowing that Lance was going to be a while, he pulled only his pants on and had his towel over his head as he stepped out of the changing stall. The air was cool against the bare skin of his chest, but he ignored it as he carried the rest of his clothes and shower kit to the sinks. He used the towel to dry his hair and dropped it onto the counter beside his clothes once he finished. Confident that his hair wouldn’t soak his shirt and tank top, he pulled both of them on and fished a comb out of his shower kit so he could make it not looks so all over the place. Once he was finished, he picked up all of his things and left Lance to his solo concert.

Back in his room, Keith hung up his towel on the hook attached to the side of his wardrobe and then laid back on his bed. Yawning widely, he felt around for his phone and picked it up once he found it. There were no notifications, but he hadn’t really expected any. He idly started playing a puzzle game, and he felt his eyelids get heavy the longer he kept going. His grip on his phone started to loosen after a while, but he was asleep by the time it slid from his hand and hit his chest. 

It was an hour or so later when someone banging on his door roused Keith, and he groaned as he sat up and slowly got to standing. He trudged to the door and opened it with one hand, rubbing at his eyes with the other. 

“What is it?” he asked, eyes still closed as he rubbed them. When his hand fell away and his eyes opened, he saw Lance standing there. “Oh…uh, hey.”

“Were you asleep?” Lance asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“What could have possibly given you that idea?” 

“The grumpy expression and the bedhead are pretty good indicators,” Lance mused, gesturing in the direction of Keith’s head. Keith raised a hand to the side of his head and suddenly felt where his hair was sticking out. He flushed red as he put his hand over it to hold it down, making Lance start to laugh.

“Did you want something, Lance?” Keith asked, struggling to keep the irritation out of his voice. 

“Yeah, I came to give you this.” He held a bottle out toward Keith, who started blankly at it for several seconds. “It’s lotion.”

“What for?” Keith asked, his expression questioning. 

“For your skin,” Lance told him. “I thought that would be obvious.”

“I get that, but why are you giving it to me?”

“I meant it when I said your skin looks dry. Like…really dry,” he started to explain, and Keith gave him an incredulous look. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m trying to help you. Will you let me in?”

Keith sighed and moved away from the door so Lance could step inside, leaving it open even after the other ranger had come in. 

“As I was saying,” Lance continued, pressing the bottle into Keith’s hands, “it’s not healthy for your skin to be so dry. You were working on a ranch, right? That means you were out in the sun for most of the day. Did you ever use sunscreen?

“Uh…”

“I didn’t think so.” Lance put a hand on Keith’s shoulder and essentially shoved him toward the sink and mirror in the room. “This lotion is basically an emergency skin repair solution. I don’t ever really need it, so I’m giving it to you. Because you definitely do.”

“Okay…thanks, I guess,” Keith murmured. Lance took the bottle back from him and popped it open before pouring some of the lotion onto the palm of his hand. 

“Look at me,” he ordered, and Keith turned to face him, expression still someone confused. “Relax, I’m not here to throw mud in your eyes or make fun of you.”

“You seemed happy to make fun of me earlier,” Keith reminded him. 

“That was…you know what, never mind. Just hold still or I will accidentally get this in your eye.”

Keith reluctantly did what he was told as Lance dipped a finger into the lotion in his hand. Raising his hand up toward Keith’s face, he started placing dabs of the product on his cheeks, forehead, chin, nose, and just about wherever else there was room. When he seemed satisfied, he reached up again and started to gently rub the lotion into Keith’s skin. He finally stepped back after a minute or two and used one hand to turn Keith’s face to the mirror again.

“Like I said, this lotion is really good for skin repair. You’ve probably got a lot of sun damage, and this’ll help,” he explained, putting the bottle down on the shelf above the sink, right next to Keith’s toothbrush. “You should do what I just did every morning when you wake up and before you go to bed. If you take morning showers, then do it after the shower. It takes all of three minutes, so you don’t have any excuses to skip it. And make sure you’re gentle when you do it”

“And how long am I supposed to do this?” Keith asked, using the question as an excuse to not think about how gentle and soft Lance’s hands were on his face.

“Until I tell you.” The answer was matter-of-fact. “Once your skin is looking healthier, I’ll help you find the right products to maintain it.”

“Lance, this seems like a bit much…”

“I promise it won’t be as long as mine. Just some moisturizer and maybe one or two other things.” 

“Okay, but why?”

“Because it would be a damn shame for someone with your looks to be plagued by bad skin, and clearly it’s not something you’ve ever given any real thought to. Now, promise me that you’ll do what I told you.”

“Yeah, fine,” Keith conceded. He knew this was a fight he wasn’t going to win, but then again, if he didn’t do it, then maybe Lance would do it for him again. He mentally kicked himself as soon as the thought crossed his mind. That was stupid.

“Excellent!” Lance looked thrilled as he took another step back from Keith. “I’m sorry for waking you up, but it was definitely important.” Keith opened his mouth to argue that it really wasn’t, but Lance had already turned to walk toward the open door. He paused with his hand on the frame and looked back. “Pidge said you owe us a rain check on dinner. So, I’ll see you later?”

“Uh…yeah, sure,” Keith murmured. Lance gave him another of his stunning smiles before walking back to his own room.

“They’ll find you if you don’t come!” he called over his shoulder, and Keith rolled his eyes as he shut his door. He walked over to the bed and fell backwards onto it with a groan. Slowly, he raised a hand to his face and touched just the tips of his fingers to his skin. It did feel kind of soft from the lotion, and for a brief moment, he found himself wishing that it was Lance’s fingers touching him instead of his own.

“Kogane, you really need to stop,” he told himself. Instead of focusing on Lance’s appearance or his hands, he really needed to be focusing on the connection between them. If tomorrow was going to be successful, they needed to put their trust in each other and Keith didn’t even want to think about how mortified he’d be if Lance knew all of the things that had gone through his mind since they’d met. 

With a sigh, Keith turned onto his side and picked up his phone. It was only just after 3, so he still had a few hours before he needed to be anywhere. In all reality, there was nowhere that he really needed to be at all, but he had a feeling that Lance hadn’t been kidding when he said that Pidge would come find him if he didn’t join the rest of them for dinner in the mess hall later. At the moment, however, he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. So, he put his phone back down and pulled the blanket over himself before closing his eyes. Despite the sudden excitement of Lance’s unexpected visit, he found sleep again fairly quickly and was soon lightly snoring.

The next time Keith woke up, it was on his own and he yawned once as he sat up to stretch, feeling a lot better than he had when he’d been woken up earlier. A glance at his phone told him that another three hours had passed, and it was just after 6. Figuring that it wouldn’t be too long before Pidge, or even Lance, came to find him for dinner, he got to his feet and walked to the sink to look in the mirror and take a brush to his hair. He had to wet the bristles to get a few stubborn places on the side of his head to lay down. He rolled his neck as he went back to the bed and sat down on it to pull his boots on, lacing them almost on autopilot. 

When he opened his door just a couple of minutes later, Hunk was stepping out of his room across the hall, and he looked up as he heard Keith.

“Oh, hey!” he greeted. “I’m about to meet Pidge and Lance for dinner. Wanna come?”

“I was told that I might be tracked down and dragged there if not,” Keith commented, realizing just seconds after saying it that it sounded like he didn’t want to go. “I mean, I want to. I was just told that I would very much be held to last night’s rain check.”

“Don’t worry,” Hunk reassured him. “I was pretty sure I knew what you meant.” He finished closing his door, and Keith pulled his own shut behind him before they started walking to the mess hall. “I have to admit that Pidge and I both thought that Lance would win earlier.”

“Because I’ve been gone for two years?” Keith asked, and Hunk nodded at his side. “I wasn’t too sure how it would go, to be honest. But I think sparring with Shiro helped get my instincts back on track, so that helped.”

“You and the Marshall were really impressive. It was cool to get to watch the two of you.”

“It had been a while for the both of us,” Keith commented. “I don’t imagine that it was really that impressive.”

“Nah, you were moving like you’d never even been separated,” Hunk told him. “They tell us in the academy that time doesn’t change the bond between co-pilots. I think they’re right.”

Keith only hummed softly in response and they lapsed into silence as they walked. Lance and Pidge were already in the mess hall when they arrived, and Pidge waved as they spotted Hunk and Keith. They were just early enough for the line to be relatively short, and it was only a matter of minutes before the two of them were sitting down with the other two rangers. Hunk sat down in front of Pidge, leaving Keith to go across from Lance, who’d been sitting across from Pidge before sliding over to make room for Hunk.

“Hunk and I really enjoyed watching you and Shiro,” Pidge commented almost immediately as Keith sat down.

“I know,” he replied. “Hunk mentioned it on the way here.”

Pidge glowered at Hunk, who simply avoided eye contact in favor of taking a bite of food. 

“What about you, Lance?” Pidge asked. “You didn’t say anything at all, and I figured that you of all people would love to get to see Keith and the Marshall spar in person.”

“It was cool,” Lance said. His tone was clipped, but Keith noticed that it was less out of dismissiveness and more like he was trying to avoid the subject. He remembered that during their warm up, Lance had started to say something about it, but had dropped the subject when Keith had prompted him to continue after he’d trailed off.

“Just cool?” Pidge needled, and Keith could practically see Lance starting to bristle from across the table.

“We’re both very out of practice,” he supplied quickly. “Honestly I felt kind of like I was just starting out again. I should have noticed what Shiro was going to do in the last bout, but I was totally blind to it.” He was lying about feeling like an academy cadet again, but the rest was true and he hoped it was enough to get Pidge to drop the subject. “Lance is going to have to help whip me back into shape,” he added.

Lance gave him a grateful look from across the table and he gave a slight nod as he started to eat. 

“How do you think tomorrow is going to go?” Hunk asked after a few minutes, and Keith shrugged.

“I don’t see a reason why it shouldn’t go just fine,” Keith said. Lance nodded along as he spoke, though he wondered if he was actually listening. “If today gave any hint, that is.”

“I think you’ll be fine tomorrow.” A new voice spoke up, and Keith looked up to see Allura and Coran approaching, trays in hand. They settled across from each other, beside Hunk and Pidge. “I know I’m not the most experienced yet,” Allura continued, “but I know what a strong connection between two people looks like when I see it.”

“Allura’s right,” Coran added in. “You two show great promise.”

“Jeez, you’re all acting like we’re getting married,” Lance commented. “Nothing is set in stone yet, and you’re stressing me out with all this talk about it.”

“Sorry,” both of them murmured together. Lance just shook his head and went back to eating, muttering something under his breath that Keith didn’t catch.

He agreed with Lance’s sentiments. Everyone expected tomorrow to go well, and while he didn’t want to think about the chance that things might not work out, it still weighed heavily on his mind. He finished his meal in relative silence, and was the first to get up from the table. He bid quick farewells to the others before heading for the exit. He was halfway to the doors when Lance’s voice sounded from behind him.

“Keith, wait up!” he called, and Keith paused, looking around to see Lance headed toward him, empty tray in hand. He waited for Lance to catch up. 

“What’s up, Lance?” he asked, voice tinged with confusion.

“I was finished and just figured I’d go with you,” Lance answered as they started walking again.

“Do you even know where I’m going?” Keith asked. There was a pause and he turned his head to glance at Lance. The ranger’s face was tinged red, and Keith wondered if Lance had even taken the time to think before following him.

“No…I guess I don’t,” he finally murmured. “Guess I wasn’t thinking.” He laughed a bit and Keith couldn’t help but smile, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I was just going to go to the hangar,” he told Lance, adding his empty tray to a stack near the door. Lance did the same and they both continued out of the mess hall. “You’re welcome to come. I just wanted to give Lion’s Roar a look over.”

“Yeah, I will if you don’t mind. Honestly, I haven’t gotten the chance to get a good look at her yet. Probably ought to before I’m expected to try to pilot her.” 

“Come on, then,” Keith murmured, taking the lead as he started walking to the launch bay. Lance took a few long strides to catch up, and they walked side by side the rest of the way.

As they reached the hangar, it was mostly empty, but Keith could hear the sounds of several people at work somewhere in the huge space. As they approached Lion’s Roar, he realized that the noise was coming from the jaeger. He could see six jaeger techs stationed at various different places, seemingly doing checks to make sure that everything was ready to go.

“Keith, is that you?” A voice called down from somewhere above him, and Keith looked up, craning his head back a bit to try to see who’d spoken. High above him, standing on a platform near one of the hip joints of Lion’s Roar was a familiar head of ginger-brown hair. He’d recognize Matt Holt just about anywhere. “I heard you’d come back! Took your damn time coming to say hi, didn’t you?”

“Holt, quit shouting!” someone higher up yelled down, and Keith couldn’t help but laugh. He walked towards the nearby stairs, Lance not far behind him, and started climbing up to the level Matt was on. 

“You know Pidge’s brother?” Lance asked as they climbed. 

“Yeah, he was on the technician team for Roar a couple of years ago,” Keith explained. “He and Adam are pretty close, so we ended up becoming friends as well.”

“Oh…that makes sense, I guess,” Lance murmured. “Though I thought he was working under their dad in the engineering corps these days.” Keith just shrugged as they kept climbing.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said. 

After a few more minutes, they finally reached the level nearest Lion’s Roar’s hip, both of them breathing a bit hard. 

“God, I hate using the stairs in this place,” Lance complained. “There are way too many of them.”

“Aren’t you rangers supposed to be the most in shape out of all of us?” Matt was waiting not far from the stairs, a good-natured smile on his face. “I could run up and down those steps all day.”

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one,” Keith replied, going up to Matt and giving him a hug. “What are you doing here? I figured that you’d be off building crazy new designs these days, not doing jaeger maintenance.”

“They promoted me to the engineering corps about a year ago,” Matt confirmed. “But when I heard that Shiro had ordered a full check on Lion’s Roar in preparation for tomorrow’s trial run, I volunteered. I’ve kind of missed working on her.”

“Well, I’m glad to know that she’s in good hands,” Keith murmured. “You know Lance, right?”

“Of course!” Matt smiled at Lance. “I can’t say that I remember meeting you in person, but Katie’s talked about you loads of times.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad thing,” Lance commented.

“It’s all been good, I swear,” Matt assured him. “But seriously, it’s nice to actually meet you. I’ve seen you around of course, but my dad runs a tight ship and tends to have me running like a chicken that’s missing its head.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Lance commented. “Now I finally know where Pidge gets their tendency to blow things up in their quarters from.”

“It happened again?” Matt asked. “I swear I’m gonna stop giving them advice if it’s not going to be followed.”

“I think it was followed,” Lance murmured, and Matt’s eyes widened. “I mean, I don’t know for sure. You’d have to ask Pidge or Hunk. They’re the ones trying to build whatever that thing is. I just watch and ask stupid questions.”

“Huh…those last adjustments should have worked,” Matt said, mostly to himself. Lance just shrugged.

“What are they trying to build exactly?” Keith asked.

“A new energy source for the electricity that runs through Fury’s whip,” Matt explained. “The one it’s using now works just fine, but Katie is convinced that the two of them can make something smaller and more powerful Always saying something along the lines of that just because something works, that doesn’t mean it can’t be made better.”

“Problem is that it keeps blowing up in their…our faces,” Lance continued for him. “Anyway, don’t tell Pidge that I told you, because I think this is turning into a pride thing and asking for help again might be a tall order.”

“It’s our secret,” Matt agreed, pressing a finger to his lips. “Anyway, what are the two of your doing in here?”

“I wanted to look over Lion’s Roar,” Keith explained. “Get myself reacquainted since it’s been a while.”

“Ah, okay. Gotcha. Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’m just about finished and am very ready for some dinner.” He waved his farewell and went back to work.”

“It’s another ten or fifteen flights up to the head,” Keith said, taking a step back from the railing and looking at Lance. “Elevator?”

Lance nodded and he two of them started walking toward the elevator, and Lance pressed the button as they reached it. The gate lifted and they stepped on, Keith hitting the button to take them level with Lion’s Roar’s head. With it currently attached to the body instead of suspended far above it as it usually was when waiting for deployment, they were only on the elevator for a couple of minutes before it came to a stop and opened to let them off. 

“So how does she look, Keith?” Lance asked. 

“As good as I remember,” he replied. “What I don’t understand is why they didn’t put another team in her after I left.”

“I only heard rumors, but people said that the higher-ups didn’t want to have to take the time for a new team to learn to pilot her,” Lance told him. “Nyma and I were posted with Twilight Huntress down the coast when we got the transfer orders. We were to become the third active team here, and Roar would be kept on standby. That changed of course when Huntress was destroyed and I lost Nyma.” 

“I see…” Keith said softly. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. I saw it on the news when it happened.”

“It’s part of living this life,” Lance said, expression turning sad. “We put our lives on the line and sometimes we lose them. I just didn’t think that I’d have to learn to accept that the hard way.”

Keith didn’t respond, instead focused on the jaeger in front of him. They’d repainted her, but he could still picture exactly where many the scratches had been. The sixth lion head had been added before he left, but as he looked down at where it was painted on the shoulder, he suddenly couldn’t remember if he’d ever taken the time to look at it after everything that had happened with Shiro. As he thought about how badly he’d taken Shiro’s injury, blaming himself and running away, he didn’t even want to think about how bad it would have been if his brother had died instead. He doubted he’d still be here, and he had to credit Lance for staying even after losing someone who was an integral part of his life.

“Hello? Earth to Keith.” A hand waved in front of his eyes and he blinked to look at Lance, whose blue eyes were staring at him. “You good, dude?”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just lost in thought. I never really thought I’d be here again. I figured that when I left, that would be the end of it. But here I am.”

“Here you are.” Lance repeated. “Listen, I know I’m not your brother, but I hope that I can be a co-pilot that you can depend on.”

“I don’t want you to be Shiro,” Keith told him. “You aren’t his replacement. I came back to pilot Lion’s Roar with you.” 

“I just hope that I won’t be a disappointment.”

“The only way you could be is if you keep doubting yourself. I can promise that I do that enough for the both of us.”

“Well, you shouldn’t. We’re the same age, and you’ve been a pilot for almost a year longer than I have. You got 5 kills faster than any other team here. I bet you’d hold the record if the Marshall hadn’t been hurt.”

“I think there are a lot of things that would be different if Shiro hadn’t gotten hurt,” Keith said quietly.

“Well for one, I would still be looking at photos of you and your brother all the time instead of talking to you in person,” Lance supplied. Keith looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to just come out and tell him about the photos Hunk had told him about that morning. “What? You’re jumping into my head tomorrow. You may as well know now.”

“I already did,” Keith admitted, and Lance’s eyes went wide. 

“What? Who told you?” he demanded. “Aw, man, now it’s even more embarrassing. Was it Pidge? I bet it was. They’d do something like that.”

“It wasn’t.” 

“Then it was Hunk,” Lance concluded. Keith gave him a sympathetic smile in confirmation. There was no point in lying about it. “Man, and I gave him my dessert back in the mess hall earlier.” 

“I don’t think he really meant to tell me,” Keith told him. “He was telling me a bit about you. Helping me figure you out a bit, I guess, and it just sort of came out. I promised I wouldn’t say anything.”

Lance just groaned and rocked back on his heels, head thumping against the railing his hands held onto.

“You must think I’m a crazy person,” he grumbled. 

“I’m still standing here, aren’t I?”

“Maybe that means you’re the crazy one.”

“I think that anyone who climbs into a giant metal robot and is willing to share the deepest parts of them with another person has to be at least a little bit crazy.” 

“Don’t be logical when I’m having an emotional crisis over someone I idolize finding out about it.”

“You told me about it like two minutes ago,” Keith reminded him.

“Yeah, but that was before I found out that you already knew!” Keith could only laugh, and it made Lance look up. He just stared as Keith kept laughing. “What are you laughing about?”

“One of the first things you said to me was that I was a creep with dry skin,” Keith said after taking a breath. “I thought that you hated me for sure.”

“Well, I mean, you were staring at me in the showers.”

“I told you that it wasn’t on purpose!” It was a stupid hill, but it was his and he was going to die on it. No matter what anyone, specifically Lance, said otherwise, he had not intentionally caught him just getting out of the shower. “You just weren’t paying attention.”

“No way, man,” Lance disagreed. “Come on, I was honest with you. Just admit it. Yeah, I didn’t know you were in there, but you were definitely staring after I dropped my stuff.”

Keith was silent for a solid thirty seconds before he let out a long sigh.

“Fine, I was.” 

“I appreciate the honesty,” Lance told him, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “Now tell me, what’s the best part of me? Other than my skin, which you already know is flawless.”

Your eyes, Keith thought immediately. He refused to say it out loud, however, not wanting to give Lance the satisfaction when he had such a ridiculous look on his face. So instead he shrugged and looked away, intentionally turning his attention back to Lion’s Roar and pretending to be focused on the jaeger instead of Lance.

“Aw, come on!” Lance complained. “I was kidding! Okay, I was mostly kidding.” 

“I’m not entirely sure that you were,” Keith commented. He paused for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. “Not to change the subject, but can I ask you something? Since we’re being honest with each other.”

“Uh, sure?”

“When we were warming up, you said something about how you felt watching Shiro and I sparred. But you stopped before you finished…”

“Oh…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” Keith said quickly. “I don’t want to-”

“No, it’s fine,” Lance interrupted. “Honestly, we already talked about it. When I said I hoped I wouldn’t be a disappointment as a co-pilot. Watching the two of you, I felt…I dunno, inadequate? If the Marshall could still operate a jaeger, I wouldn’t be needed.”

“Lance, I already told you that I want you to be my co-pilot,” Keith reminded him.

“I know you did!” The words came out angrily. “Ugh…I’m sorry. I just…never mind. I think I’m going to call it an evening,” he declared when Keith didn’t say anything, pushing himself away from the railing. “If I don’t see you back in the barracks before I crash, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I won’t be far behind you,” Keith assured him. “Promise.”

“Good. I don’t want your tired brain to go jumping down rabbit holes when we start to drift.”

Keith just waved him away, and he listened idly as Lance walked away, his footsteps eventually fading away to nothing. When it was quiet again, Keith sat down at the edge of the walk way, letting his legs hang over the side as he leaned on the lower part of the railing. His eyes were looking at Lion’s Roar in front of him, but weren’t particularly focused as he let his mind wander.

Part of him still wondered a bit about Lance. It was clear that there really was more to him than he first realized, and he wanted to see more of what was beneath the shallow comments that he was prone to. That was part of him that Keith didn’t particularly like, but if he knew anything from his own experience, it was probably a shield of some kind, built to protect him in the same way that Keith had the tendency to lose his temper a little too easily at times.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there when he heard footsteps on the metal walkway, coming up behind him.

“Somehow I knew I’d find you up here,” Shiro said, settling down beside him.

“Was that somehow someone with red hair?” he asked, turned his head just enough to see his brother out of the corner of his eye. Shiro grunted noncommittedly, and Keith rolled his eyes.

“What are you doing up here, anyway?”

“Lance and I were up here talking,” Keith told him. “I was coming up here to take a look at Lion’s Roar before tomorrow, and he came up with me. We ran into Matt when we got here.”

“Well, he said he was glad to get to see you,” Shiro reported. “So, what were the two of you talking about?”

“I think he’s as nervous as I am. But I think it’s less about being compatible with me and more about being compared to you.”

“Compared to me?”

“I think because you and I did so well together as partners, that he’s worried that other people, or even me, will compare him to you. He doesn’t want to be a disappointment.”

“Do you think he will be?”

“No! Why would I?”

“Then there won’t be a problem,” Shiro assured him. “I’m sure you told him as much, but once you’re in the drift, he’ll see that in your mind as well. For now, try not to worry about it. Get some rest, like I told you to do.”

“Yes, Marshall,” Keith murmured, smiling as Shiro frowned at him. “I’m just kidding. I’ll only call you Marshall in front of really important people.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Now go get some rest or I’ll drag you back to your quarters.”

“You haven’t been able to carry me since I was fifteen, so good luck with that.” Keith climbed to his feet, with Shiro just a few seconds behind him. “Goodnight, Shiro,”

“Goodnight, Keith.” 

Keith took the elevator down instead of the stairs, and after a couple of minutes he was walking out of the hangar bay and back to the ranger quarters. There were still a few people around the halls, but they were mostly empty and he didn’t run into anyone he knew. The barracks hall was empty as well, and Keith figured that if the others were still up and about, they were either shuttered away in someone’s room or were by themselves.

He pushed the door open to his own room and let it close behind him as he flicked on the lights and sat down on this bed. He kicked his shoes off before laying on his back and holding his phone up over his head, starting to idly scroll through it. He wasn’t sure when he dozed off, but a loud boom jarred him awake. It was strong enough to shake the walls of his room and he was on his feet in seconds, running out the door without even bothering to put his boots on.

Coran, Allura, and Lance all joined him in less than a minute, looking half awake and all somewhat bewildered. Keith looked over at Lance, suddenly noticing that he had some kind of facemask on. It made it hard to read whatever his expression was beneath it, but Keith could guess that he was pissed. He looked back around as Pidge’s door opened and smoke came pouring out for the second time in 48 hours. Pidge’s form stumbled through it, followed closely by their brother.

“Guys, what the hell?” Lance complained. “It’s almost midnight!”

“Sorry!” Pidge said, pulling off their glasses and trying to wipe away the smudges on them with their shirt. “We thought it was going to work that time.”

“You’ve said that the last four times, and it’s blown up every time!”

“Lance is right, Pidge,” Allura said, taking a step up towards the pair of siblings. “None of us mind you doing experiments, but not in the middle of the night. I thought a bomb had gone off.”

“Scared me so bad that I fell out of bed,” Coran piped up.

“Seriously, I’m sorry,” Pidge repeated. “We just got a new idea and didn’t want to let it fade.”

“Then write it down?” Lance suggested. “Just…ugh, I’m going back to bed.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into his room, slamming the door behind him.

“Yes, me too,” Allura grumbled. She and Coran both walked back to their respective rooms and soon it was just Keith in the hall with Pidge and Matt.

“Are you going to tell Shiro? I mean the Marshall?” Matt asked, looking over at him. 

“Why, do you want me to?” Keith asked. The thought really hadn’t even crossed his mind until Matt said something.

“No!” Pidge practically shouted. “Absolutely not! Please don’t!”

“I really wasn’t planning to,” Keith assured. “But I’d suggest getting whatever mess you’ve made cleaned up as soon as possible.”

They both gave Keith grateful looks and he turned to go back to his room. He closed the door behind him and yawned widely as he went back to the bed. Having fallen asleep in his uniform earlier, he quickly changed into his cotton sleep pants before climbing into bed and hitting the light switch on the wall beside it. 

When he woke the next morning, he was grateful to see that the first number on his phone’s clock was 5 instead of 4. He yawned as he sat up and stretched his arms high above his head before getting out of bed. He brushed his teeth with bleary eyes and ran a brush briefly through his hair to tame the wilder places. He looked at the bottle of lotion Lance had given him, sitting right by his toothbrush cup. He’d said right when he woke up or after a shower, and right before bed. He’d failed to do it before going to bed last night, and he was going to work out now, so it would have to wait until after he’d taken his shower. He just hoped he’d remember by the time he came back to his room.

Pulling on his workout clothes, Keith left his quarters and jogged to the gym to warm himself up. He’d grabbed his headphones on his way out the door today, knowing that he wouldn’t be alone this morning, and he stuck them in his ears as he ran. 

Despite waking up an hour later than yesterday, he was still the first to the gym. He settled down to stretch a bit, eyes closed as he counted out seconds in his head as he moved between various stretches. As he finished stretching, he looked up to see Lance walking through the door with Hunk and Pidge. He paused his music and caught a little bit of their conversation as they got closer.

“I don’t know how you always manage to sleep through it, man,” Lance was saying. “The whole hallway shook! If we ever get attacked here in the middle of the night, you’re never even going to know.”

“Logically speaking,” Pidge interjected, “that will never be an issue. The Breach is a long way away from here. And besides, they always go for the cities. We’re near one, obviously, but far enough away that we wouldn’t be a target.”

“Thank you for completely missing the point,” Lance grumbled. It was about then that they noticed Keith getting to his feet. “Please tell me that you weren’t in here before 5 again.”

“No, only about 10 minutes ago,” Keith replied, glancing down at his phone to check the time. “Yeah, that sounds right.”

“I’m sorry again about last night,” Pidge murmured. “It took over an hour for Matt and I to get everything cleaned up.”

“Serves you right,” Lance replied, eyes flicking to Pidge before coming back to Keith. “Hunk slept through that last night. Can you believe it?”

“Isn’t your room right next to Pidge’s?” Keith asked. Hunk nodded.

“I’m a really deep sleeper,” he said in explanation.

“That explosion could have woken the dead,” Lance argued. “It was way bigger than the one two days ago.” Hunk only shrugged. “Whatever, man.” 

They all settled down to stretch as Keith moved off to one of the treadmills. He’d run to the gym, but it wasn’t particularly far and he wanted to run a couple miles before he switched to weights for the rest of the morning. Coran and Allura joined them all not too long after, as Keith was setting up a leg press.

An hour or so later, Keith was chugging down about half of his water bottle as he sat on a bench, towel hung around his neck. He used one end of it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. The others were still going through their respective routines, but Lance appeared to be finishing up and he wanted to wait for him.

After about 5 minutes, Lance wandered back to the bench where he’d left his own things and Keith stood up. He walked over to Lance and sat down on the bench beside him.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked. “Well rested despite the uh…disturbance?”

“As well as I could,” Lance told him. He turned his head to look at Keith. “Did you do what I told you with the lotion?”

“Uh…I forgot last night,” Keith admitted. “But I’ll do my best to remember today.”

“Do it right after your shower,” Lance told him. “Are you heading back?”

“Yeah, I’m done,” Keith confirmed. “You?”

“Yeah, let’s go leave the rest of these guys to it. We don’t have that much longer before it’ll be time to climb into that jaeger.” They both stood up and left the gym, headed back to the barracks. Walking in comfortable silence, they broke off as they reached their respective rooms. 

Keith was the first into the shower, which he expected to be a trend based on Lance’s routine. He washed his hair and the rest of himself quickly, getting out of the shower as soon as he’d finished. He dried off and got dressed, leaving the stall with his towel hanging over the top of his head. He rubbed at his hair beneath the towel with his free hand as he walked to the exit. Just as he went to push the door open, it was pulled from the other side and Keith found him face to face with Lance.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” the other man said quickly. If he noticed the redness on Keith’s face, he didn’t comment on it. “At least we’re both dressed this time.” 

“Sorry about that,” Keith murmured. He stepped to one side to let Lance in just as Lance stepped out of Keith’s way. It made him laugh a little and he edged out the door, murmuring another apology as he passed Lance. 

“Lotion!” Lance called to his retreating back. Keith waved his hand over his shoulder dismissively, but it was the first thing he did when he got back to his room.

He hadn’t felt nervous when he’d woken up or when he’d been in the gym, but suddenly Keith found himself too nervous to eat. So, opting to skip breakfast, he reported to the prep room instead. He was early by a little less than an hour, but he didn’t really mind as he settled into a chair and just waited, trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand.

“Rangers Kogane and McClain, report to the launch bay.” Controller Iverson’s voice sounded over the speaker system maybe half an hour after he’d gotten there. “Repeat. Rangers Kogane and McClain, report to prep room 3B in the launch bay.”

“Already here,” Keith murmured to himself. It was somewhere between five and ten minutes later when Lance arrived.

“Did you eat?” he asked almost immediately, and Keith gave him a questioning look. “I didn’t see you in the mess hall, and neither did anyone else. I’m just taking a wild guess and assuming you didn’t eat anything.”

“Wasn’t hungry,” Keith told him. Lance snorted and threw something at him. Keith got his hands up just in time to catch it, finding himself holding something wrapped in a napkin. “What’s this?”

“It’s a muffin,” Lance told him. “You should eat.”

“I just said I’m not hungry.”

“But is that your head or your stomach talking?” Keith only blinked at him. “Just eat it. It’s blueberry.”

Keith grudgingly unwrapped the napkin from around the muffin and took a bite out of the top. The door to the prep room opened as he was chewing, and Shiro walked in.

“Good morning, rangers. I hope you both got plenty of sleep last night,” he greeted, pausing as he noticed Keith sitting there with a mouth full of muffin and raised a questioning eyebrow as he glanced at Lance looking for an answer.

“He didn’t eat,” he said simply. 

“I see. Well, you’ve got a little bit of time, so finish your muffin and then we’ll get you into your drivesuit.” As Shiro spoke, several techs came into the prep room, ushering Lance to one of two raised platforms in the room. They started picking up pieces of Lance’s drivesuit up off a counter top, helping him put it all on. Keith watched quietly as he worked on eating the muffin Lance had given him. 

When he finished, he brushed the crumbs off of his hands and got up to go to the other platform, where a couple of other techs were waiting on him. Shiro put his hand on his shoulder as he passed, making him pause.

“Don’t be nervous,” he said. “It’s going to go just fine.”

“You say that like you can see the future,” Keith told him. Shiro just gave him an exasperated look and let go of his shoulder, letting him continue to the platform. Stepping up onto it, he immediately had techs on either side of him fastening the various pieces of the drivesuit to him.

“Just don’t chase the rabbit, little brother.” 

“I know it’s been a while, but this isn’t my first rodeo, Shiro.”

“Quit talking back and let me do my job.” He said it like Keith was a kid again, causing trouble at school. “I’m going to mission control. Finish suiting up and then go finish any preparations you need to do inside.”

Keith felt bad for responding the way he had, but Shiro knew he tended to get agitated when he was nervous or when something was bothering. Hopefully he wouldn’t let it bother him.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked from across the way. 

“Fine.” It was terse, and Keith mentally kicked himself. “Sorry, I’m just a bit tense. Shouldn’t be nervous, but I am.”

“I think we both are. We just have to do the best we can to not let it get to us.” Lance stepped off the platform, fully suited up except for the helmet in his hands. “What side do you favor?”

“Right.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m a lefty.” Lance turned away and headed for the opening in Lion’s Roar’s head. Keith couldn’t help but notice that the suit made Lance’s butt look good as he walked away. “McClain, on deck.”

Keith’s techs finished up just a moment later and he followed Lance into the jaeger, automatically going to the right side and standing in front of the control screen. Lance was tapping at the one on his side with his free hand, setting a couple of preferences and doing the checks for the left hemisphere. Keith did the same, but not before taking a moment to scan his eyes around the conn pod. It was just like he’d remembered, and he couldn’t even tell where Scavenger’s claws had ripped into it. 

“Kogane, on deck.” Lance looked over at him as he said it and offered him a smile. 

“Was the muffin good?”

Keith hadn’t really tasted it.

“Yes, thanks. Are you ready?”

“If you are.”

Keith nodded and pulled his helmet out from under his arm as Lance took his into both hands. They both pulled them onto their heads at about the same time, locking them into place.

“Good morning, rangers,” Iverson greeted them through the comms. “We’re finishing up the last couple of checks on our end.”

“Prepare to initiate the neural handshake.” They could hear Shiro’s voice faintly, and Keith knew he was standing right behind Iverson. He felt Lion’s Roar powering up around them, and took a deep breath before closing his eyes. As he let the breath out, he felt himself pulled into the drift. 

Memories flashed in front of his eyes. Waking up from a nightmare as a child. His mother hugging him as he cried. The car accident. Shiro. Shiro’s family. Getting into a fight at the academy. Sparring with Shiro for the first time. Their first kill. Suddenly the memories seemed to shift and it’s not himself that he saw, but Lance. Lance hiding in a bunker with dozens of other people while something roars overhead. Lance receiving his acceptance into the jaeger program. Lance meeting Hunk and Pidge. Lance flirting with and immediately being turned down by Allura.

The visions came to a sudden halt, and a computerized voice just outside of his awareness announced that both hemispheres were calibrated. He opened eyes, flexing his hands open and closed. He didn’t need to look to his left to know that Lance was mirroring the motion.

“Alright, we’re going to start this out slow,” Iverson instructed. “Just some basic movements while we monitor the connection. Extend the right arm. Slowly.” Together, both Keith and lance lifted their right arms and extended them outwards. The jaeger’s arm followed suit. 

There was another flash of memories. Scavenger’s claws ripping into the conn-pod. Doctor Honerva telling him and Adam that they hadn’t been able to save Shiro’s arm. Shiro showing up on his doorstep in Texas. Lance and Nyma celebrating their first kill. Lance screaming as Nekojima biting through Twilight Huntress’ conn-pod, ripping away half of the pod and killing Nyma. 

Suddenly Keith realized that it wasn’t just Lance’s memory that he heard. Lance was yelling beside him as well.

“Stay with me, Lance!” Keith heard himself shouting. “Shut it out!” He heard Lance go quiet beside him, even as he still screamed in the memory he’d been drawn into. Keith could see the anguish on his face through the helmet as half of himself was ripped away. Finally, the space around him seemed to become cloudy and the memory flashed away, replaced by Shiro telling Lance that he’s going to find someone he thinks will be compatible with him. It was jarring as Keith was suddenly jerked back to the present.

“Are you alright?” Shiro was asking urgently, the panic clear in his voice even through the microphone.

“Fine,” Keith responded as he and Lance brought the jaeger’s arm back to its side. “Close call, though.”

“Lance?”

“Sorry,” Lance said. “That was a rough one.”

“It’s fine. Drifting with someone new is always hard the first time,” Shiro reminded them both. “We’re expecting minor issues and that’s why we’re taking it slow.”

“They’re both back in sync,” Keith heard Iverson comment, voice faint since Shiro was at the microphone. 

“Alright, you’re level again, so we’re going to keep going,” Shiro told them. “I’m handing you back to Iverson.”

“Alright, I want you to do the left arm now,” Iverson told them a few seconds later. They did as they were told, and Iverson continued to walk them through several rounds of basic movements. They were in Lion’s Roar for just over half an hour before Shiro told them that he was satisfied and they could shut her down.

Keith removed his helmet almost as soon as he disconnected from the control rig, tucking it under his arm so he could use one hand to push his sweat soaked hair out of his face. He took slow, deep breaths to slow his heart rate down, only just realizing how elevated it was. The two years since he’d been in a jaeger suddenly felt a lot longer, and he felt like he could sleep for a week. At the same time, the rush of being in Lion’s Roar again had his adrenaline running sky high, and combined with how exhausted he felt, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself other than breathe.

“Keith, are you okay?” Lanced asked from his left, making him look up. He looked tired as well, but there was also a smile on his face. It was the kind that made Keith’s heart jump and he had to look again for fear of saying something stupid.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said quickly. “It’s just…it’s been a while. I’m not used to the strain anymore, I guess.”

“Sorry I almost lost control in there.”

“Don’t be.” Keith shook his head at Lance as he said it. “It could have been either of us, and you didn’t fall in enough for it to be a problem.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I doubt that I really had that much to do it.” Lance scoffed, making Keith look at him again. “What?”

“You’re really thick, you know that?” Lance told him, turning away from him and heading out of the conn-pod that had opened back up after the jaeger had shut down. Keith followed him, confused and somewhat annoyed at Lance’s non-answer. They’d been sharing a consciousness for the last hour, but there was nothing that Keith had noticed that he could think would make Lance say that.

The techs were standing by to help them out of the drivesuits, and they were both just about of them when Shiro arrived in the prep room.

“Congratulations, rangers,” he said as he entered. “I definitely call that a successful test. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, but good,” Keith told him. “I could probably sleep for a week.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen, but you can certainly try,” his brother commented. “We’ll be lucky if we make it a week before the next attack at the rate they’ve been coming.”

“I guess we have something to look forward to, then.” Keith stepped off the platform once the last of his suit had been removed, and he crouched to pull his boots on and tie them. Lance sat down nearby to do the same.

“That you do,” Shiro agreed. “Both of you get some rest. You’ve earned it. And Lance, I’ll put in the order for your new jacket. If that’s alright with you.”

Lance nodded from where he sat. “Thank you, sir.”

“I have to go send in the report on your success, but I’m sure I’ll see the two of you soon.” Shiro left quickly, and Keith stood up just a few seconds later.

“Care to tell my why you called me an idiot?” he asked, glancing toward Lance.

“You were in my head for the last hour,” Lance told him. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested. “Just tell me.”

Lance sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, elbow resting on his knees. “I couldn’t have pulled myself out of that rabbit hole,” he said, repeating what he’d told Keith while they were still in Lion’s Roar. “It was hearing your voice that pulled me back. You yelled for me to stay with you and it brought me back to reality. You wanted me to stay with you, and so did I.”

Keith just stared at him, and Lance rolled his eyes before getting up and walking out of the prep room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll be honest when I say that writing it was a bit of a blur (yay NaNoWriMo), so I had to go back and read the whole thing myself to make sure that it wasn't gibberish.
> 
> I took a bit of a break to recover from basically writing non-stop, but I'm back to it and there will hopefully be more to come soon.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet. It got past 10k before I did some much needed trimming. I find that I've got a (probably bad) tendency to be a bit long winded. Anyway, this chapter is a bit on the domestic side, but I hope you enjoy it well enough. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta reader who helps me think of things when I'm hopelessly stuck.

Keith fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow after he returned to his quarters. The drift had always taken a lot out of him, as was normal for all pilots, but this first time with Lance had been rougher than he he’d expected it to be. He didn’t know if it was because it had been so long, or if there was another reason, but he didn’t particularly care enough to want to dig into it. Overall, he was happy. He was a ranger again, and while it wasn’t with Shiro at his side as it used to be, he knew that he and Lance would work very well together. The only question he had was what Lance had been talking about when he’d left the prep room. Keith hadn’t seen him on the way back to the barracks to ask him, though he wasn’t positive that he’d get an answer since Lance had sort of deflected when he’d asked before. It was something he’d worry about when he woke up.

Several hours later, for the second day in a row, loud knocking woke him up. He still felt tired and really didn’t want to get up. 

“What?” he shouted from his bed. The knocking stopped, and there was a slight creak as the door opened just enough for Lance’s face to fit through.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking around the room for a moment before realizing that Keith was a lump in the bed. “It’s been like…6 hours.”

“It has?”

“Yeah…no one had seen you since this morning and we started to get worried,” Lance explained. “So, I came to check on you. Can I come in or are you naked under there or something.”

“Why would I be naked?”

“I don’t know. Some people like to sleep naked sometimes.”

“Can’t say that I’m among them.” Lance still hovered in the doorway, waiting for Keith to either tell him to go away or come in, and Keith sighed. “Come on, then.” He slowly sat up, yawning as his sheets pooled around his waist.

“You were sleeping in your uniform?” Lance asked as he stepped inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.

“I honestly hadn’t noticed.” Keith fumbled for the light switch by the bed as he spoke, but Lance beat him to it as he flicked on the one by the door. “I don’t even remember falling asleep, actually.”

“Jeez, man. Are you always like this after being in Lion’s Roar?”

“No. This is maybe the second or third time,” Keith told him. “The first was when Shiro and I first started working together. My body wasn’t fully prepared for the strain, and it took two or three runs before I really got used to it.”

“I think that’s how it goes for everyone,” Lance acknowledged.

“I’ll be fine after our next deployment, probably,” Keith told him. “So…was there something you wanted other than to make sure I hadn’t died in here?”

“Oh, yeah. Two things.” Lance walked over to Keith’s desk and grabbed the chair, dragging it over to near the bed. He sat down backwards on it, resting his arms and head on the back of it.

“Okay…what’s the first?” 

“Pidge and Hunk are in the city getting some beers and other stuff so we can have a small party tonight,” Lance explained. “We’ll get a little bit of extra food from the kitchens. So, we’ll have that and whatever else they bring back. To celebrate today’s success.”

“Sounds fun. What’s the other thing?”

“Oh, uh…” Lance shifted his head so that his forehead was resting on his arms, effectively hiding his face. 

“Lance?”

“I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you,” he mumbled. “I was grumbling to Pidge and Hunk about it and they reminded me that even though we’re in each other’s heads, we still have to communicate. I didn’t do that, so I’m sorry.”

“Can you tell me what you were talking about now?” Keith asked, genuinely curious. “I gotta be honest. There’s been a lot happening in the last few days and I honestly don’t know what I’m missing.”

“Like I said before, it was you that brought me away from the edge,” Lance murmured, just loud enough that Keith could still hear him, but he didn’t lift his head. “When that memory surfaced, I mean. I heard the words, of course, but it was everything that was in them that really hit me. Ugh…I feel like I’m not making any sense.”

Keith frowned, trying to think about that moment during the drift. Lance has on the verge of spiraling out of sync, and he’d yelled for him to stay. What did Lance mean everything that was in the words? Everything between him and Shiro had always been very simple. They could read each other with ease even before they’d become co-pilots. And while it seemed that Lance could read him, he couldn’t read Lance. Or himself, it seemed. 

“Keith, you sounded so desperate,” Lance told him, realizing that he still didn’t understand. “Like it would destroy you if this didn’t work. I’ve never heard someone sound like that…at least not ever directed at me. Part of me wonders if it was just you being selfish and wanting to be a pilot again, but the rest of me doesn’t think so.”

“Then what is it that you think?”

“I don’t know, that there was something more than that behind it?” He phrased it as a question, like Keith had the answer. Except he didn’t. He knew that there was something between them that went beyond the drift, but he didn’t know what it was. He couldn't put words to it. Not yet. 

“I don’t really know, Lance. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just wanted to clear the air a bit,” Lance told him, though he sounded somewhat disappointed. It made Keith feel bad, but there wasn’t anything he could say when he was so unsure about what was going on himself. “Anyway, they should be back around 7, so make sure you’re in the common room by 7:15 at the latest or someone will come and drag your ass there.”

“I’ll be there, Lance,” Keith assured him. He glanced down at his phone to check the time. 4:32. He still had plenty of time. “Promise.”

“Good. In the meantime, you may want to take a shower. You looked like you’d gone swimming earlier and from what I can tell, you didn’t bother to change out of your clothes before crashing. I bet you smell.” By now, Keith knew that he didn’t mean anything offensive by it, and so he just nodded as Lance left. Once he was gone and the door closed behind him, Keith lifted his right arm and bent his head down to sniff. He shrugged as he noticed the smell of sweat, but it wasn’t horrific. He was still going to take Lance’s advice, though. 

He was in and out of the showers in about twenty minutes or so, and as he dried his hair in the mirror, he glanced down at the bottle of lotion and wondered if Lance would want him to use it even though he’d already done so before the test run of Lion’s Roar. He could practically hear Lance’s voice in his head. He’d sweated like crazy and had to wash his face when he took a shower. Ultimately, he decided that Lance would say yes and quickly applied and rubbed in the lotion.

Clean, dressed, and with lotion freshly applied to his face, Keith found that he still had more than two hours before he was supposed to the common area that the rangers all shared. Unsure what to do with himself, he pocketed his phone and opened the door to his room as he decided to go for a walk. He paused halfway out the door however, and turned back to go to his wardrobe. He opened the door and reached in, grabbing the familiar dark leather of his jacket. He took it off the hangar and closed the door to the wardrobe before pulling the jacket on. He left it unzipped as he went back to the door and left. 

He wandered somewhat aimlessly for a while, and eventually found himself climbing up one of the towering stairwells that led up to the roof of the shatterdome. It took a while, but eventually he’d climbed as far as he could go and pushed the door to the roof open. It wasn’t raining for once, and he walked out onto the flat roof. The sun was still up, but with winter approaching, it was already on its way down. It would be another hour or so before it hit the horizon, but in the meantime, Keith had to shield his eyes from the glare. 

Looking south, he could see the Seattle skyline in the distance, the Space Needle standing tall against the other buildings. He still remembered when it had nearly been destroyed by a kaiju three or four years ago, but Lion’s Pride had managed to kill it before it dealt any real damage. It had taken some time for the repairs to be completed, but at least from this distance, no one would suspect that anything had happened at all. 

Keith stayed up there for a while, just looking out at the Pacific Ocean to the west. The water looked rough, which was no surprise with the wind that whipped around him. There was enough of a chill in the air that he was glad that he’d put on the leather jacket, and he reached down to zip it up to try and block out the cold a little more. It wasn’t enough as the wind picked up, however, and eventually he was driven back inside. 

Another hour of wandering aimlessly brought Keith to close to 7, and he decided it was in his best interest to just go to the common room to wait for the others. If they weren’t already there, that is. As it was, he ran into Hunk and Pidge, as he got close to the barracks. They were carrying several bags, and he ran the short distance to meet him so he could take a few. 

“How much did y’all buy?” he asked, pulling a heavy bag out of Pidge’s hands.

“Um…a case of beer, snacks,” Hunk told him. “There’s already some liquor between several of us, but we grabbed another bottle of tequila.” 

“Tequila? What are y’all planning to do tonight?”

“It’s a party!” Pidge piped up. “We don’t have anything to do around here unless a kaiju shows up, and since there was one just the other night, it’ll be another week before any of us get deployed again.” Keith just raised an eyebrow at them. “What? Didn’t you guys ever party before?”

“We did, but usually stuck to beer,” Keith told them. He looked at the bags. “That looks like a lot more than just some beer and tequila.”

“There’s food too,” Hunk told him. “We bought some snacks and the ingredients for me to make sapasui.”

“Sapasui?” 

“Yeah, I guess it can be described as a sort of stir fry. Like pancit or chop suey,” he explained. “It’s something my family always made for parties because you can make a lot for not a huge amount money.”

“Everyone knows that the mess hall food isn’t great, and Hunk is a great cook,” Pidge said from behind Keith.

“My mom is ten times better,” Hunk cut in. “I still have to check the recipe on most things. The only reason that I don’t for this one is that I helped her make it so many times. I could probably do it in my sleep.”

“I guess I’ll look forward to it, then,” Keith told him, making Hunk smile.

When they reached the common room at the end of the barracks hall, Coran and Allura were inside, sitting on one of the couches in comfortable silence. As they noticed the group arriving, Allura hopped to her feet and went to grab a bag from Keith. 

“What can I help with?” she asked. “Hunk, can I do anything for you?”

“Oh…uh, no,” Hunk said haltingly. “That’s alright, Allura. I’ve got it.” She looked a bit crestfallen until Coran suggested that she help him get the drinks set up. Noticing Keith’s slightly confused expression after the exchange, Pidge leaned in toward him.

“She’s a terrible cook,” they said. “She likes to try to help, but could probably burn water.”

Keith nodded in understanding as he watched Hunk start to pull out ingredients. 

“Well, I’m no world class chef, but if you’d like someone to chop vegetables, I can at least manage that without chopping off a finger,” he offered, but Hunk just shook his head. 

“Like I said, I’ve made it so many times that I could do it in my sleep. I’ll have everything prepped and cooking in no time,” Hunk assured him. Keith nodded and left him be, going to help with the snacks.

Just ten minutes later, Hunk was at the stove, adding ingredients to a large frying pan. Over where Coran and Allura were, the drinks had all been set up. Beer and a questionable looking bowl of some kind of cocktail that Pidge concocted and Keith had a feeling he’d be avoiding at all costs unless he wanted to end up flat on his back. He had finished setting up the snacks, and between them and Hunk’s sapasui, he didn’t think they’d be needing any of the mess hall food. 

“Where’s Lance?” he asked, making Pidge shrug. 

“He was supposed to get food from the mess hall,” they said. “But he should have been here by now.”

“Should I go look for him?”

“Nah, he’ll find his way here.”

Keith just nodded and went to go sit on one of the sofas near Coran, who smiled at him as he took a seat.

“Congrats on this morning, Keith,” he said. “It’ll be good to have you out there again. You have a lot of catching up to do, though.”

“Yeah, well I’m sure we’ll get ourselves caught up in no time,” he replied. “Won’t be so easy to rack up kills with three of us back in the game.”

“Though these days, we’re being sent out in pairs,” Allura commented. “It’s not about the competition anymore, really. It’s just keeping ourselves alive.”

“Yes, but competition of it all keeps morale up,” Coran said. “People like to see us out there killing these things, and there’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition as long as no one gets hurt.”

“It’s not a game, Coran. We aren’t throwing ourselves into dangerous situations just for the sake of it. Lives are at stake.”

“We know that,” Keith cut in. “It’s not just them that have taken losses, so we all know how dangerous what we’re doing is. There’s no way to predict what will happen every time we go out there, but the competitive aspect of it has always helped us get the job done.”

“It just doesn’t seem like it’s taken very seriously,” Allura murmured. She reminded Keith so much of her father that he couldn’t help but smile a bit as he shook his head.

“Can you honestly say that you don’t feel some satisfaction every time they add a new mark to Pride when you make a kill?”

“Well…I guess it does feel pretty good,” she admitted. “It makes me feel like we’re at least making a bit of a difference in this war.”

“Exactly. Feel free to yell at Coran if he tries to make you do something stupid, though.”

“Oh, I will,” she confirmed, making Keith laugh. He tilted his head back to rest it on the back of the couch and look at the ceiling. He closed his eyes after a couple of minutes, just listening to the noise around him.

“Sorry I’m late!” He opened his eyes abruptly at the sound of Lance’s voice, and he picked up his head and turned to look toward the door. He expected to see Lance carrying things from the mess hall, but instead he was holding what looked like 3 pizza boxes. “You’d think that it would be easy for delivery people to find this place. It’s not like we’re hard to miss.”

“Is that Pizza?” Allura asked, and Lance beamed as he nodded. “Where did it come from?”

“The city, of course,” he told her as he walked to the counter to put them down. “They charged an arm and a leg for the delivery since we’re not really within their delivery radius, but it should be worth it. It’s some of the best in the area.”

“I thought you were getting food from the mess hall,” Hunk said from by the stove. He was still cooking, but seemed to be finishing up since he had a big foil container sitting by where he was cooking.

“I was going to, but then I decided that this would be better,” Lance said. “Why ruin a good party with mediocre food?”

“Well, what kind of pizzas did you get?” Pidge asked.

“One pepperoni and sausage, one black olive and mushroom, and one pepperoni with half pineapple for the heathen that is Keith Kogane,” he announced. Keith’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why’d you get that?” he asked, perplexed. For one, he didn’t know how Lance knew what his favorite kind of pizza was.

“Because you like it,” Lance replied. “It’s only half a pizza, though. So no one else has to deal with your heathen pineapple on pizza ways.”

“The pepperoni is salty and the pineapple is sweet,” Keith complained, making Lance roll his eyes. “It’s the perfect combination. How did you even know I liked that anyway?”

“Intuition?” Keith snorted. “Fine. I asked Shiro. Apparently, you both like it which I find horrifying. I’ve lost all respect for the both of you.”

“And yet you still bought it,” Pidge commented, clearly holding back laughter.

“Yeah, well…” Lance trailed off. “Just don’t worry about it. I just wanted to do something nice.”

“Thank you, Lance,” Keith told him, getting up from the couch. “I appreciate it.”

“Well, your timing is good,” Hunk commented. “I just finished cooking, so we’re ready to go.” He turned off the stove and picked up the big pan he’d been using before dumping its contents into the foil tray that he’d set out earlier.

“Ooh, did you make sapasui?” Lance asked, inhaling as he watched Hunk from the other side of the counter. The other ranger nodded and Lance punched his fist into the air. “Aw, you’re the best, Hunk. I thought y’all were just getting snacks.”

“Well, we got those too,” Pidge piped up. They was ladling their mystery cocktail into cups that they’d produced from one of the cabinets. “Now all of you come get a drink.”

Keith walked over to the counter where they were, followed by Coran and Allura, who’d stood up not long after he did. When he got to the counter, he reached for a beer, ignoring the cups. Just as he touched one of the bottles, however, Pidge slapped his hand away.

“No way, man,” they said, holding a cup out to him. “You’ve gotta try this first. It’s my special cocktail recipe, just for parties.”

“What’s in it, exactly?” He was very skeptical of not knowing what had gone into it.

“There’s some cranberry juice, ginger ale, a little of this, and a little of that,” Pidge told him.

“It’s the this and that that I’m scared of,” Keith told him. “I think I’m going to stick to beer, thanks.”

“Lance, tell you’re co-pilot that he’s being a chicken,” they complained.

“You’re being a chicken,” Lance said immediately, and Keith noticed that he already had one of the cups in his hand and it appeared to be mostly empty. “Come on. There’s nothing happening for a few days. We can afford to cut loose a little.”

“Lance...” He didn’t mean for his voice to sound so complaining, but it came out that way anyway.

“Think of it as a way of saying thank you to me for getting you your heathen pizza.”

“If you keep calling it heathen pizza, I’m going to make you eat it.”

“If you drink the punch, then I’ll try a bite,” Lance told him. “That sounds fair, doesn’t it?” Keith sighed and took the cup that was being held out to him. “That’s the spirit!” He held his own cup out for Pidge to refill it and then held it out toward Keith. “Cheers!”

Keith reluctantly touched the edge of his cup to Lance’s and took a sip of the drink. The alcohol taste was definitely there, but he noticed appreciatively that it was balanced out by whatever else had gone into it. He had a feeling though that there was more alcohol in it than was being let on. And not just because there was an empty bottle on the back counter.

“See? Not so bad, right?” Lance asked. “Pidge knows what they’re doing. Now, if you want something dangerous, you should try coquito.” 

“What’s coquito?”

“It’s a really popular drink in Caribbean families,” Lance explained. “It’s got coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, some condensed milk, and a borderline insane amount of rum. But everything else is strong enough that you can’t even taste it.”

“That does sound dangerous.”

“I’ll make it around Christmas,” he promised. “You’ll love it.”

Keith just took another sip of the drink in his hand, silently telling himself that he would not be taking any drinks from Lance any time soon. He wasn’t anti-alcohol. Far from it. But he wasn’t a huge fan of the idea of getting completely hammered to the point that he didn’t have full control over himself. Beer took a lot of that chance out of the equation so long as he didn’t down to many of them in one go. Something like coquito sounded like it would get him drunk before he ever realized it.

“Food’s up!” Hunk announced, then. He set the tray of sapasui down between the pizza boxes and a stack of paper plates. Lance immediately put his cup down so he could snatch up a plate and serve himself some of the Samoan dish. The others followed suit, grabbing pizza and stir fry before going to sit on the couches that sat in front of a large television screen.

Coran had turned it on earlier, but none of them were paying any attention to whatever program was on as they ate and talked. Lance polished off his plate of sapasui and a slice of pizza quickly and got up to get more, but Keith snagged the pocket of his pants to keep him from going anywhere.

“Hey!” Lance complained. “I want more pizza.”

“You have to hold up your end of the bargain first,” Keith told him, holding up his plate that had a slice of the pepperoni and pineapple pizza on it. He hadn’t taken a bite out of it yet. Lance scrunched his face up as he looked at it, but everyone was watching him, so he reached out and picked it up. Keith rolled his eyes as he gave it a tentative sniff. “It’s pizza, Lance. Just eat it.”

“Heathen pizza,” Lance mumbled. Keith kicked him lightly in the shin. “Ow! Okay, okay.” He opened his mouth and took a bite of the pizza. His nose scrunched up as he chewed and swallowed, and Keith couldn’t help but think that it looked adorable. At least up until he made a show of dropping the pizza back onto Keith’s plate and held his throat, making a fake choking noise. That made him roll his eyes as the others laughed.

“I’ve been poisoned,” Lance declared. “You said you wanted to be my co-pilot, but now you’re trying to kill me.”

“Yes, that is absolutely what I’m trying to do, Lance,” Keith told him. “Because clearly that would do the both of us so much good.”

“I’m never eating anything you give me ever again.” 

“More for me,” Keith murmured, picking up the slice and taking a bite out of it. “Drama king.”

They continued chatting for a while, eating and drinking as they did. Eventually Lance stood up and announced that it was time for a game, demanding that Hunk come help him set up on the counter. Most of the food was gone, so they only had to move what was left of the pizza to the back counter by the stove.

“What are we playing?” Allura asked, glancing over the back of the couch to where Lance and Hunk were both filling more cups with punch.

“Punch pong tournament!” Lance answered, holding up a ping pong ball that he’d produced from who knows where. “We have three teams, so we’ll go against each other and the team with two victories are the champions.”

“Same rules as beer pong?” Coran asked, and Lance nodded. “I’m game. It sounds fun.” Allura looked slightly reluctant, but he pulled her to her feet and they went to join Lance and Hunk.

“Come on, Keith!” Pidge said, getting up as well. Keith was the last to get to the counter.

“Alright, we’ll do rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first, and they get to pick their opponents,” Lance said. “So, one person from each team, get ready. Keith, do you want to do the honors for us?”

Keith raised one of his fists up above the counter as an answer, joining Pidge and Allura. 

“Alright, on my mark,” Lance told them. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” Keith watched as he and Pidge both chose scissors against Allura’s paper. “Alright, Team Pride is out. Round two. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

This time Keith had chosen rock, but Pidge had gone for paper again.

“Looks like we get to decide who to take out first,” Pidge declared. “What do you think, Hunk?”

“Allura and Coran,” their co-pilot suggested, and Pidge nodded in agreement. Lance and Hunk finished setting up the cups, and soon Allura and Coran were at one end, facing off with the Pidge and Hunk on the other side.

“Fury won the match decider, so Pride goes first,” Lance said, passing the ping pong ball to Coran. “I’ll be refereeing from the middle, so no funny business.” 

Keith just rolled his eyes as Coran took aim. After a couple of seconds, he let the ball fly and it bounced once near the middle of the counter before landing harmlessly between three of the cups. Pidge fished it out carefully and took their time lining up their shot, which landed neatly in the first cup on the other side.

“First blood goes to Fury,” Lance announced. “Coran, you missed, so you drink.” The older man did as he was told and reached for the cup. He plucked the ball out and handed it to Allura, who dried it on her pants leg, before he downed the cup’s contents in 4 quick gulps. “Nicely done.”

Allura looked long and hard at the table before she made her throw, and when she let it fly, the ball bounced and lightly tapped the far edge of one of the cups before dropping inside with a soft plop.

“I’ll take this one, Pidge,” Hunk said, reaching for the cup.

The two teams went back and forth, Fury seeming to quickly gain the upper hand. By the time Allura and Coran were down to one cup on their end of the table, both of them looked a bit worse for wear. Allura had missed her last shot, and Pidge was tossing the ball up into the air, catching it easily as it fell each time.

From his place on the sidelines, Keith couldn’t help but be impressed by Pidge’s aim. While Hunk was rather good as well, Pidge hadn’t missed a shot yet. And they didn’t miss the last one either. With a confident toss, the ball bounced and landed squarely in the final cup. Allura went to reach for it, but Coran beat her to it and downed the punch.

“The first round goes to Fury!” Lance announced. “Pride, take a breather, you’re both drunk.”

“And whose fault is that?” Allura asked, steps just entering into wobbly territory as she mostly guided Coran to the couches. “Pidge, I hope you beat them too. Just to shut Lance up.”

“Hey!” Lance complained. “You’d better hope they win because otherwise, we’ll kick your butts! Right, Keith?”

“Yeah, sure,” Keith said, going to join Lance.

“We’re going to need some enthusiasm from you if we’re gonna with this,” Lance complained as they started setting up another round of cups with Hunk and Pidge’s help. Only three of their cups had been taken out, so it was only a couple of minutes before both sides were ready to go.

“You guys can take the first shot,” Hunk told Lance and Keith, producing the ping pong ball from his pocket and tossing it across. Keith leaned forward over the counter just far enough to catch it. He offered it to Lance, who pushed his hand back towards him.

“Oh no,” Lance said, taking a step back to give him room. “First one is yours.”

“Alright.” Keith looked across the counter at Pidge and Hunks cups, trying to decide which one he wanted to aim for. He’d played beer pong back at the academy, but it had been a while and he just hoped that his aim was still decent. 

“Any day now, Kogane,” Pidge teased, but Lance responded before he could.

“Can it, Holt! No distractions,” he snapped. It was as he said it that Keith took his shot, and it landed neatly in the cup closest to Pidge. “Hey! Nice one, Keith!”

Pidge grudgingly removed the ball and picked up the cup. They set it to the side once it was empty and prepared to take their turn.

This time, the teams were more evenly matched. Both of them missed on occasion, but eventually it had come down to both teams with one cup each and the ball in Lance’s hand.

“Now we find out if you’re as good of a shot as they say you are,” Pidge told him. “Mr. Sharpshooter.”

Lance, doing his best to ignore them, carefully lined up his shot. The cup was at the far corner, nearest to Hunk, and it had eluded him twice already since the game had started. Now, he was determined. Especially with his pride on the line. Keith watched as he took a deep breath and tossed. The ball bounced once, twice, and then just made it over the lip of the glass, landing in the punch with hardly a sound. 

“Yes!” Lance cheered, jumping up with both hands in the air. He landed and immediately hugged Keith, who froze up a bit as Lance’s arms closed around him. Lance didn’t seem to notice, however. “We did it!”

Pidge emptied the last cup before stumbling to the couch and flopping over the back of it with a loud hiccup. Hunk joined them, but managed to sit down properly. 

“This game was a terrible idea,” Hunk murmured. “Or at least…two rounds in a row was.”

Lance had let go of Keith as the others walked away, and he picked up the last remaining cup on their side and offered it to him.

“Oh no,” Keith refused. “I’ve had more than enough of that. You’re perfectly welcome to it.”

“But Keith,” Lance whined. “We won together. We should drink together.”

“We have been drinking together. We are both drunk, in fact.”

“No, I’m not. I’m totally fine.” Keith snorted at Lance’s comment. “I’m not! Watch, I can walk in a straight line.”

He started walking between the couch and the counter. The first five feet or so could have been called a very loose straight line, but he soon veered off in another direction and Keith went after him. He grabbed his hand, making Lance stop and look back at him, and Keith’s mind went blank.

Lance was looking at him like…he didn’t even know what. All he knew was that his eyes somehow looked even bluer than they usually did, and the slight tinge of red on his cheeks from the alcohol softened his usually sharp features. The only word that Keith could even begin to put to it was cute.

“You…we…we should sit down,” Keith just managed to say after they just stared at each other for several seconds. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from Lance and gently guided him to the nearest sofa. “We’re both drunk.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lance said, following after him. “Did you know that your eyes look like kind of like amethysts in the right light? Not all the time…but right now they do. All purple and shiny and gorgeous.”

“Says the man who is one hundred percent absolutely not drunk,” Keith told him. He gave him a gentle push to make him sit as they reached a couch, and let himself fall onto the other end.

“No, I mean it! Your eyes are completely amazing.”

Keith looked briefly over towards the others, and saw that while Coran and Allura had seemed to fall asleep on each other, and Hunk had his head tipped back against the back of the couch, Pidge was very much awake and watching them.

“Uh…then thanks, I guess.” His judgement was too impaired to stop him from saying the next thing that came out of his mouth. “So are yours, you know. When you asked me what I liked about you last night, the first thing I thought of was your eyes. They’re so incredibly blue.”

“Awww, you’re so sweet.”

“Awww, you’re so sickening,” Pidge mocked from the next couch over, voice slurred. “Seriously, get a room.”

“Uh…” Keith went red and pointedly looked away from Lance. “So should we watch a movie or something?”

“I think Coran and Allura are down for the count,” Hunk commented, shifting forward and hauling himself unsteadily to his feet. “I’ll try to get them to their rooms.” 

He managed to get Coran to his feet and started guide him to the door, closer to carrying him than supporting him.

“Hunk is great,” Keith commented, and Pidge hummed in agreement.

“He got a lot of heat from the other cadets at the academy for various reasons, but he just let it all slide right off him,” they told him. “He said that his mother always said to just let it roll off of him like water off a duck’s back. If he ever let it get to him, he never showed it. He’s a genuinely good person.”

“You’re lucky, then,” Keith told him. “Not everybody gets a good co-pilot.”

“You’re lucky too, you know,” Pidge said back. “Lance is amazing in a jaeger, and he’s loyal to a fault. He got into fights less on his own behalf than he did other people’s.”

Keith glanced back toward Lance beside him, and discovered that he’d fallen asleep, head down and tipped slightly to one side.

“He was funny yesterday,” Pidge continued. “He was so mad that you didn’t understand what he was trying to tell him. We had to remind him that the drift can’t replace face to face communication.”

“He mentioned that.”

“You know, even though the ranger program has been around for several years now, we don’t actually know that much about the drift. The scientists behind it tell us that everything is shared, but in what capacity? Everything at once would be an overload. So, do we choose? Does our co-pilot have the ability to seek things out? We don’t know for sure.”

As they spoke, Hunk returned and came around the side of the couch to get Allura. He paused as he listened to what Pidge was saying.

“Sorry,” he murmured when they paused. “They get science-y when they’re drunk.” Keith just shrugged as Allura slowly got to her feet and went with Hunk, leaning on him a lot less than Coran had been.

“I was thinking about what Lance said,” Pidge continued, waving Hunk away with one hand, “and I almost wonder if there are things that our co-pilots can sense and see in us that even we can’t.”

“What does that mean?” Keith asked.

“That there’s a chance that Lance picked up on something in your consciousness that you may not be entirely aware of just yet. We assume that everything truly means everything, but there’s nothing that’s been shown to completely prove that.”

“So you’re saying that Lance knows something about me that I don’t?” Keith asked, and Pidge nodded.

“It’s just a theory, but I don’t see anything to contradict it.” They yawned and somehow slumped further into the couch. “If it bothers you, then you should talk to him about it.”

“I tried. He changed the subject,” Keith told them.

“He’ll talk when he’s ready. He always does. Or maybe you’ll figure it out yourself.”

They fell into silence as Pidge started to drift off, and Keith just stared up at the ceiling thinking about what they’d said. Hunk returned after several minutes and looked between them as he came around to the front of the sofas.

“Do I need to take you to your room too?” Hunk asked Keith, and he shook his head.

“No, I’m good,” he replied. “I’ll get Lance if you get Pidge.” He pulled himself upright and started shaking Lance’s shoulder as gently as he could to try and wake him. Behind him, Hunk was rousing Pidge and getting them to their feet. The two of them were mostly out the door by the time Lance opened his eyes.

“Just a couple more minutes,” he complained, and Keith rolled his eyes.

“You need to sleep in your bed,” he told him, leaning down to pull one of Lance’s arms over his shoulders. He started to lift him to his feet, nearly falling as Lance tried to deadweight on him, but managed to regain his balance despite the complaints coming from the slightly taller man.

He guided Lance to his room, turning the knob with his free hand before kicking the door open as gently as he could. He fumbled for the light switch, nearly losing his hold on Lance as he did so, but finally found it and flicked the lights on. It earned him another round of complaining, which he ignored as he mostly hauled Lance to his unmade bed. He face planted onto it and Keith sighed as he moved to roll him over. Once Lance was on his back, Keith started looking around the room. One of the first things he saw was a sleep mask on the table beside the bed, next to several bottles. He picked up one or two of the bottles and looked at them. Both seemed to be masks of some kind, and he put them down before picking up another bottle. That one was a scrub, and Keith picked up two more before he finally found one that was just lotion. 

Keith didn’t know Lance’s routine, but he knew lotion had to be part of it. So, he opened the bottle and poured a little on his hand before he started to carefully apply it to Lance’s sleeping face. He thought he was going to wake up a couple of times, but Lance stayed asleep until he finished. Keith haphazardly wiped the lotion still on his hands onto his shirt and then picked up the sleep mask. He gently lifted Lance’s head with one hand and carefully slipped the mask on with the other. Once he had it in what he was pretty sure was the right position, Keith pulled the sheets up over Lance and made for the door. He turned out the lights as he went and shut the door behind him as quietly as he could.

The hallway was empty as he left Lance’s room, but he heard noise from down the hall and went back to the common room to see what was up. Inside, he found Hunk working to get things cleaned up. They’d had made any particular mess, but he was picking up the cups and things left behind by their game.

“Need a hand?” Keith asked from the door, making Hunk jump a bit. “Sorry, wasn’t trying to scare you.”

“It’s okay. I just wasn’t paying close enough attention, I guess,” Hunk told him, reaching up to scratch at his arm. “Help would be good, if you don’t mind.”

“I offered, didn’t I?” Keith walked to the kitchen area and picked up the pan Hunk had been cooking with off the stove. He brought it to the sink, already full of the other dishes that had been used and got to washing.

“Lance get to bed okay?”

“As okay as I could manage. He was pretty much passed out, so I just got him into bed as best I could,” he explained as he scrubbed the pan with a soapy sponge.

“Yeah, that sounds like Lance,” Hunk commented, dropping a stack of cups into a garbage bag. “He says he could drink for days, but frankly he’s a bit of a lightweight. Not compared to Coran and Allura, perhaps, but he certainly can’t drink as much as he claims.”

“Just as long as he doesn’t get himself hurt in the process,” Keith murmured. Hunk nodded in agreement and they fell into a comfortable silence as they cleaned. Soon, the cups were all gone, the dishes were clean, and the empty foil tray and pizza boxes were crushed and added to the trash bag. There were a couple of slices of pizza left, two of Keith’s pepperoni and pineapple and one of the pepperoni and sausage.

“Mind if I take those?” Keith asked, and Hunk handed him a paper plate in response. “I need to make sure I eat at least something before I crash. Curb the hangover a little.”

“You know what would be funny?” Hunk murmured, and Keith just looked at him blankly. “Leaving one of those pineapple slices by Lance’s bed. He’ll be in such a fog in the morning that he’d probably just eat it.”

Keith blew air out of his nose in a laugh as he thought about the idea, almost wishing that he’d thought of it earlier. He set all three pieces on the plate and went looking for some plastic wrap.

“It’s a good idea, but I’ll leave things like that to you and Pidge,” He paused for a couple of seconds as he thought about the two of them. “Actually, probably mostly Pidge. I’m still shocked that he even took a bite after making our deal before.”

“If there’s anything Lance won’t do, it’s back out of a challenge once it’s been made,” Hunk told him. Somehow, that didn’t surprise Keith at all and he just shook his head a bit as he stretched the plastic wrap over his plate. “Anyway, I’m going to leave this bag by the door and take it to the mess hall in the morning. It’s time to crash.”

“Agreed.” Hunk picked up the bag and Keith picked up his plate, and the two of them left the common room, hitting the lights on the way out.

“Thanks for your help, Keith,” Hunk told him as Keith reached his door. “I appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” Keith replied, opening his door. “Good night.” He closed the door behind him and put the plate of pizza on his desk, pausing only to undo the plastic just enough that he could grab one of the pineapple slices. He replaced the wrapping with his free hand and took a bite as he went to his bed. He ate the rest of it while he scrolled through his phone for a few minutes, seeing only a missed text from Shiro asking him if he was free for dinner a few hours ago. He sent a quick apology and promised him a rain check. Polishing off the pizza, he stood back up to strip off his shirt and change into his pajama pants before climbing into bed.

He was just about to turn out the lights when he remembered the lotion and sighed as he sat up and got out of bed again. Walking to his sink, he picked up the bottle and diligently applied the product to his face, immediately returning to his bed once he’d finished. He turned out the lights and looked at his phone one more time before closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

It was several hours later when he woke up with a light groan and just the first hints of an oncoming headache. It didn’t feel like it the night before, but he must’ve drunken more than he’d initially realized over the course of the evening. He suddenly found himself grateful that he’d stuck to the punch, because he knew from experience that mixing liquor and beer was never the best idea. He lifted his phone up just enough for the screen to light up and show him the time, and he groaned again when he saw that it was just past 8. He never slept in this late. 

The thought that he should get up and go do his morning workout went just as fast as it came, and he pulled the sheets up over his head instead. He tried to will himself back to sleep, but only managed another ten minutes or so before the noise of people out in the hallway roused him again. He couldn’t make out any of the voices but Coran’s, sounding extraordinarily chipper considering how drunk he’d been. 

Slowly and reluctantly, he sat up in bed and yawned long and loudly. The beginnings of a headache were still there, but didn’t seem to be getting any worse for the time being. Determined to head it off, he pushed himself out of bed and went to the sink to get some water and ibuprofen. He drank the entire glass as he took the pills, immediately refilling it again before going to his desk and sitting down by the plate of pizza. It was stone cold, but he’d eaten it straight out of the fridge before and so he didn’t particularly care as he unwrapped the plate and took a bite out of the first piece he picked up. 

Keith wondered for a brief second what Lance would think of cold pizza since he was so opposed to having pineapple on it. But then, he couldn’t think of a single person their age who’d never eaten cold pizza for breakfast at least once.

Once he’d finished the pizza, he got up and started slowly moving around the room, collecting the various things he needed to take a shower. With a clean change of clothes under his arm and his shower kit in the same hand, he didn’t bother with throwing on the shirt from the night before as he wandered out the door. He regretted the decision as he was met with the cool air of the hallway, and quickened his pace to get to the showers and their promise of hot water.

He was surprised to find that the showers were empty as he pushed the door open, expecting to encounter at least one of the other rangers. Instead, he found silence. He was honestly grateful for it as he chose a stall and turned the water on. He let it heat up as he stripped down the rest of the way and then stepped through the curtain and under the spray. 

No one else came into the showers while he was in there, and the hallway was still empty when he left to go back to his room. The silence was broken when he heard a door open from down the hall, and he looked behind him to see a bleary-eyed Allura stepping out of her room. She looked towards him and gave a little wave, making him pause.

“How are you this morning, Keith?” she asked as she paused by the door to the showers, voice sounding tired. 

“Better now that I’ve showered and had something to eat,” he told her.

“I’m hoping very much for the same,” she replied. “But the food will have to wait until I’m presentable enough to be seen by normal humans. I feel like death as of right now.”

“I have headache medicine if you need any. Just knock.”

She smiled gratefully before continuing on her path to the showers, and the door closed softly behind her.

Twenty minutes later, Keith was walking to the mess hall in hopes of finding something hot to eat. Other than Allura, he hadn’t seen heads or tails of anyone else that morning, and still didn’t as he walked. The mess hall was almost entirely empty aside from a few Saturday morning stragglers, and he was glad to find that there was still food left from the breakfast rush. Having retrieved both his tray and a cup of coffee, he wandered over to the unofficial rangers’ table and sat down heavily.

He was halfway through his food, staring down blankly at his tray when another hit the table with a clatter and someone sat down across from him. He looked up, suddenly alert, but relaxed when he saw that it was Lance, looking tired and like he’d barely taken the time to straighten himself up before finding his way there. As Keith looked at him, he noticed a couple of places where his hair was sticking out, and he had to force down a laugh. He was so used to seeing Lance looking like he’d just finished getting ready that this was entirely unexpected. Even after the night of drinking they’d all had.

“Morning, Lance,” he finally said after several long seconds of silence.

“Morning,” he mumbled back, shoving a bite of eggs into his mouth. “Anyone else alive?”

“I saw Allura after I took a shower, but no one else.” Lance only nodded in response. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit by a truck, but like it happened a few days ago. You know what I mean?”

“Not particularly.”

“I don’t even remember going to my room last night,” Lance continued like he hadn’t heard Keith’s answer. “But I woke up with my eye mask on, so I guess I made it back myself? Hunk never puts it on when he takes me back to my room.”

“How often does Hunk help you to bed after a night like that?” Keith wondered as he said it if he should tell Lance that he’d been the one to put him to bed.

“Not all the time…” Lance paused to think. “Maybe 50 or 60 percent? I dunno. Either way, he’s a really good friend.”

“You know he suggested that I put pineapple pizza by your bed so that you’d eat it when you woke up, right?”

“No, you must be mistaken,” he told him, waving his fork around a bit as he shook his head. “That sounds more like Pidge.”

“Pidge was asleep.”

“You must’ve been drunk, then, because Hunk would never do that to me. Wait…” Lance closed his eyes for a few seconds, like he was trying to gather his thoughts against the wishes of whatever kind of headache he had. “Why would you have been the one to leave me pizza? Were you in my room last night? Is that why all of my night products were out of order?”

“Uh…” Keith suddenly found himself regretting the lotion thing. If he’d been smart about it, he wouldn’t have touched any of the bottles in the first place. But drunk Keith wasn’t particularly smart and had irrational tendencies. “I just…figured you’d be upset if you woke up and realized that you’d not done any of whatever it is you do before bed.”

“So you…”

“I didn’t know what any of it was, so I just put lotion on your face and put your mask on,” he explained. “Sorry if I messed something up.”

“That’s…incredibly sweet,” Lance said after a long pause. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, uh…any time,” Keith replied. “I should have left you some water or something, but I can’t say that I was particularly sober myself.”

“You did plenty. And I mean the thank you.” Lance took another bite of food and a long sip of coffee. “Besides, you remembered that moisturizing at the very least is better than nothing, so you’re learning, young Padawan.”

Keith just blinked at him for a few seconds before taking a drink from his own coffee cup. 

“Don’t tell me you haven’t seen Star Wars?” Lance asked, tone exasperated as he looked at Keith with wide eyes.

“No, I have,” Keith told him. It had been a while, but he had.

“Then why were you looking at me like I said something crazy?”

“I think there are plenty of people who would look at you strangely for calling them a…was it a Padawan?”

“’Was it a padawan’ he says,” Lance looked like he’d been utterly betrayed. “How can you say you’ve seen Star Wars when you don’t even know what a Padawan is.”

“Look, it’s been a while. I don’t watch that many movies.”

“Oh, we’re going to have to change that,” Lance muttered. “What the hell did you do in your spare time when you were here before?”

“Uh…trained?” Lance just put his head on the table and let out a long groan. “What’s wrong with that? It’s what most of us did.”

“That’s one of the most depressing things I’ve ever heard.” Keith just rolled his eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me! I distinctly remember you being the one to suggest watching a movie last night, but now you turn around and say that you don’t watch them very often?”

“It got all quiet and I didn’t know what to do,” Keith said, trying to defend himself. He broke eye contact as he realized that if Lance remembered that, he probably remembered what had been said between them right before that. He hadn’t mentioned it, but Keith couldn’t help but wonder. “Will it make you feel better if we watch a movie today?”

“I get to choose which one,” Lance replied immediately, perking up at the suggestion. “We’ll hook my laptop up to the TV in the common room. I have a ton of options to pick from.”

Keith thought for a brief second that he’d made a huge mistake, but he knew that he wasn’t going to have much of a desire to do anything productive today. So why not spend some time with Lance watching movies. He could also give some sober thought to the things that he and Pidge had talked about after Lance had fallen asleep beside him.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” he said, and Lance grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've hit a writing block, but I'm doing my best to try to work through it. Unfortunately it means slower updates. Apologies for the long gap between this chapter and the last, but I'll try to get another one up sooner than later.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm alive! Ran into a block, but I finally got the kick I needed. Hope it being pretty long helps make up for the wait.
> 
> As always, thanks you to my beta reader! It always makes me happy to know how much you look forward to new chapters and it often helps me get through when I'm stuck.
> 
> (Side note: the end notes from the very first chapter might be showing at the bottom below the notes for this one. I think I fixed it, but ignore it if not.)

It turned out that there were a ton of movies that Keith hadn’t seen. Lance all but berated him for a solid five minutes after learning that he hadn’t seen The Shining, and despite Keith’s protests that he didn’t like scary movies, it’s what ended up being put on first. Keith tried to be as subtle as possible as he wrapped himself in a blanket and hugged a pillow to his chest, but he had a feeling that Lance would use his various nervous outburst and occasional muffled scream as blackmail material if he ever had the chance. By the time it was over, Keith was so tense that his muscles ached when he finally forced them to relax.

“Who would’ve thought that the famous Keith Kogane was afraid of scary movies,” Lance commented smugly, getting up from the couch to go get his laptop to pick something else out. 

“If you put on another one, I will kill you.”

“You kill monsters for a living and this movie about scared you shitless.” Lance started to laugh as he said it, scrolling through his movie selection, and Keith just scowled at him.

“I will leave,” he threatened, making like he was going to get up from the couch.

“No! Don’t! I’ll stop, I swear,” Lance immediately responded, hand freezing on the laptop’s trackpad as he looked around. “I’m sorry, it’s just not something I ever expected.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve just never been a fan of getting scared,” Keith muttered. He’d relaxed since the film had ended, but he still had the pillow held pretty tightly against his chest. He forced himself to let go of it and put it beside him. “What’s next?” 

“Nothing scary,” Lance assured him. “I don’t take you for much of a musical guy, so we’ll skip those, I think. How about superheroes? You like them?”

“I saw Iron Man a while back,” Keith said after a moment of consideration. “It was fine.”

Lance nodded as he listened to Keith, slowing down his scrolling to look at the various movies he had in that genre.

“Why do you have so many movies?” Keith asked. 

“My family has always loved them, so we just have a big shared digital library that we can all use and add to,” he explained. “I don’t get to see them that often with this job, so this is one of the ways we keep up with each other.”

“Where are they?”

“We used to live in southern California, but when the attacks started, we moved further inland as soon as we could.”

“Then how did you end up here?”

Lance stopped scrolling again and looked down at the table quietly. “You saw the memory of us cowering in a bunker, right?” Keith nodded. “It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Of all of our lives. Like I said, we picked up and moved almost immediately after it happened. I never wanted to feel that helpless again, though.”

“So, you joined the academy as soon as you could,” Keith concluded, and Lance nodded. 

“My family didn’t want me to become a jaeger pilot,” he continued. “They begged me not to enroll. But I had to.” 

They both fell silent, and Lance started scrolling again, but he didn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention to what he was looking at. 

“I remember seeing you, you know,” he said after a couple of minutes. “Back at the academy. You were a year ahead of Hunk, Pidge, and I. The great Keith Kogane, the only cadet with near perfect simulator scores, but who wasn’t at the top of his class because he couldn’t stop picking fights.”

“I’m not entirely sure you’re the right person to be scolding someone else about fighting,” Keith commented, remembering what Shiro had told him.

“Every one of those guys had it coming!”

“Do you really think I need you to justify why you were getting into fights?” Lance just shook his head.

“You’re right. Anyway, I remember that because of your scores, I saw you as a sort of rival, even though you had no idea I existed. I think that in the end, it helped me make it to the finish line.”

“I almost didn’t graduate,” Keith told him. “If it weren’t for Shiro pushing me, I probably would have dropped out.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” Lance said. He was quiet for a few seconds before looking back at his laptop screen. “Anyway, have you seen the Aristocats?”

“The Disney movie?”

“Is there another one?”

“No?”

“Good answer. Have you seen it?”

“Yeah.” He watched Lance keep scrolling.

“How about Kingsman? Seen that?”

“Never heard of it.”

“Perfect!” Lance hit a button and put the laptop back down as he scrambled to get back to the couch. “You’re gonna love this one.”

They settled back in and Keith pretended to not notice that Lance seemed to have moved a few inches closer when he’d returned to the sofa. 

Somewhere around halfway through, Keith heard footsteps and looked over the back of the couch to see Hunk wandering in. He waved as he walked to the fridge and grabbed a soda, coming back to lean against the back of the sofa on Lance’s other side.

“Ooh, I love this one,” he commented. “Mind if I join you?” Keith shrugged as Lance made a soft sound of confirmation. Hunk walked around the side of the couch and sat down a few feet from them. 

After another half hour or so, Keith shifted and moved to get to his feet. Lance made to grab for his arm, but caught his hand instead. They both paused for a brief second before Lance tried to pull him back down.

“I’m not leaving,” Keith huffed at him. “I just want to get some water.” Lance let go of him then, and Keith went to the fridge to grab two bottles out of it. He handed one to Lance when he got back, sitting back in the same place he’d been. He had the distinct feeling that Lance had somehow moved even closer than he’d been previously, but opted not to say anything. He found that he didn’t particularly mind, though it did draw his attention away from the movie a bit as he started to think about what Pidge had told him the night before.

They seemed to know what it was that had Lance so worked up before, but either because they’d been drunk or because they were the type to not share that kind of thing, they hadn’t told Keith. Instead, he’d gotten a lesson in theoretical drift science, which had only really left him with more questions. Part of him wanted to bring it up, but Lance would probably shush him again, and it would be a little odd with Hunk sitting in the same room. So instead, he tried to refocus on the movie, mostly failing. Which was unfortunate because Lance had been right about him enjoying it.

Hunk let out a long yawn as the credits started to roll and he stretched as he got to his feet.

“Are you guys going to be here for a while?” He asked as Lance shifted away from Keith and off the couch.

“I think so,” Keith told him when Lance didn’t answer. “I’ve apparently committed a felony by not being an avid movie watcher. This is my sentence.”

“Oh, like you’re not having fun.”

“This one was fun,” Keith retorted, pointing to the scrolling credits. “The one before it was not even the least bit fun.” 

Hunk just looked between them, waiting for someone to clarify.

“I showed him The Shining,” Lance told him. “He wasn’t a fan.” He looked like he was going to say more, but closed his mouth when he glanced at Keith, who gave him a grateful smile.

“Gotcha. No worries, Keith. I hate that one too,” Hunk commented. “Anyway, I may come back later if you don’t mind, but Pidge wants me to help them with something for a bit.”

“Of course,” Keith told him. “Feel free to bring them too.” Hunk nodded and left, making sure to grab his soda can on the way out. 

“So, what are you feeling next?” Lance asked. “We’ve done scary, we’ve done action.” Keith just shrugged. “You’ve gotta give me something to work with here, man.”

“You said you were picking,” Keith reminded him, his tone amused and edging into what could only be called playful.

“Watch it, or I’ll put on a Disney movie. Or another horror movie.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Then give me some direction, partner.”

“I don’t know. Something with superheroes, I guess,” Keith answered after thinking about it for a few seconds. “Whichever one you like best.”

“That can certainly be arranged,” Lance agreed, turning to look away from Keith so he could track one down. “Do you like Thor? The newest movie is great.”

“I haven’t seen any Thor movies,” Keith commented, earning a dramatic gasp as Lance turned around again. “I told you that I’ve only really seen Iron Man. Stop acting like a kaiju just broke through the ceiling.”

“Oh, that would be a lot more dramatic. I’m talking screaming and cussing,” Lance informed him. “But seriously, we’re going to have to have a Marvel day. I’ve got every single one.”

“And that’s how many?”

“Uh…” Lance’s eyes looked up towards the ceiling as he started thinking about the question. Keith breathed out a soft laugh as his mouth moved, listing movies silently as he thought of them. “More than 20, but less than 25.”

“That’s impossible in one day,” Keith said immediately.

“A Marvel weekend, then.” He looked back at his laptop as he spoke.

“I’d never be able to stand up again.”

“Then we’ll break it up into the various phases. Each of those should be doable in a day, I’m pretty sure. We start with Iron Man and work our way through the rest. Actually, no. We’ll go chronologically.” Keith just gave him a confused look, so he started explaining. “So, they released the movies in a sort of phase structure, but the timeline jumps around a little so some say it’s best to watch them chronologically. So…Captain America, Captain Marvel, and then Iron Man. You following me?

Keith shrugged, realizing that pretending that he understood what Lance was telling him was going to be easier than having him explain it all again, likely in more detail. “Excellent! We start now. We should be able to get through those three, and maybe Iron Man 2 today.”

“Now?” 

Lance looked around with a smug look on his face. “Are you going to say no to these incredible blue eyes?” he asked, and Keith had never been happier to be in a dark room because he was fairly certain that he looked just as red, if not redder, than a tomato.

“You uh…remember that, huh?”

“I absolutely do. And now I know that you do too.”

“Yeah, well you were saying weird stuff too, so I don’t know what you’re being all smug about,” Keith murmured, looking away.

“Yeah, but I meant it,” Lance said. “Your eyes are gorgeous and sometimes they look like amethysts. I just said it again sober, and I still mean it. I don’t think that’s such a weird thing to say.” Keith looked down and away and Lance sighed, but it sounded more disappointed than annoyed, like he’d thought that maybe Keith had put the pieces together. Or that he’d been expecting a specific answer, but only got silence.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t done either of those things, and Keith felt bad as Lance hit the play button on his laptop and moved back to the couch. In all reality, he shouldn’t feel bad. They’d known each other for all of three or four days, and while there was clearly something that Lance had seen or felt coming from Keith during the drift, he didn’t know what it was. He’d tried thinking about it on his own, especially after talking briefly with Pidge the night before, but he’d had no luck. He either needed more time or he needed to drift with Lance again in hopes of getting some kind of hint. Keith knew he was dense when it came to himself, though, and he started to wonder if perhaps he needed to seek out another third party. And Shiro was the only other person other than Lance in the shatterdome who’d been in his head and knew him better than anyone else.

He suddenly remembered that he’d promised Shiro that he’d have dinner with him and Adam after missing his text last night, and he pulled his phone out to send him a message. He finished just as Lance reached over and snagged one end of the blanket he’d been using to pull it over his legs. They both settled in again as the movie started. Shiro texted him a confirmation on dinner about half an hour later.

It was somewhere around five hours and two movies later when Keith glanced at his phone and saw that it was almost 7. He stretched as he stood up, making Lance turn and look at him.

“Dinner with your brother?” he asked, and Keith nodded. He was happy to notice that he’d not called Shiro the Marshall like he usually did. It made it sound much more like a family thing than some official something that only Keith was invited to. “I should probably eat something too. Pick up in a couple of hours? We can probably get at least one more in tonight. Maybe two.”

“Sure, I’d like that,” Keith replied, making Lance smile. “I’m going to go before I’m late.”

“Later, then!” 

Keith waved at Lance over his shoulder as he left the common room. He stopped by his room to grab his jacket and pulled it on as the door closed behind him and he started walking towards Shiro’s quarters. When he got there, he knocked and it was Adam’s voice that shouted that it was open. Keith went in and shut the door behind him, finding that it was only his brother’s husband that he saw.

“Shiro not back yet?” Keith asked, and Adam shook his head from where he was sitting on a small sofa. He had his tablet in his lap and was methodically tapping at various places on the screen. Keith glanced at the table as he waited for an answer, noticing that there weren’t any mess hall trays on it like the last time. What he did see, however, was a bubbling pot on the stove and a few bowls on the counter beside it.

“He got a call from someone important about ten minutes ago,” he explained. “Said it shouldn’t take too long, though. Feel free to grab a drink out of the fridge and make yourself comfortable.”

Keith nodded and walked to the small fridge in the corner of the kitchenette that was part of the spacious room. He found several bottles of beer and snagged one, pausing to rifle through the drawers until he found a bottle opener. He popped the cap off and set it and the opener on the counter by the stack of bowls before going to join Adam. He sat in a leather armchair opposite him.

“I gotta say, I’m jealous of all the space you guys have in here,” Keith murmured. “Never knew how much extra room being the Marshall got someone.”

“Shiro comments that it’s too big sometimes,” Adam told him. “I think he got too used to the barracks, but I welcomed the change. It doesn’t feel so cramped, and we don’t have to share showers or bathrooms with anyone but ourselves.”

“Keep talking like that and I might try to move in.”

“Only one bed, I’m afraid.” Adam was still mostly focused on his tablet as he spoke.

“Working on the new weapon that Shiro mentioned?” Keith took a sip from the bottle in his hand as he waited for his brother-in-law to answer. Adam only hummed, giving a slight nod of his head in confirmation. “He said that you’re keeping it a secret. Even from him.”

“That’s because I don’t want to disappoint him or anyone else if it ends up failing,” he explained, letting the tablet rest against his knees as he looked up at Keith. “The only people outside of myself who know anything about it are Science Officer Holt and his son.”

“Must be one hell of a project. Are you getting close?”

“If everything continues to plan, we’ll have a prototype completed in the next month.” He closed the cover of the tablet. “But Shiro will kill me if he finds me working on it at home. You know how he likes to keep home and work separate as much as possible.”

“I didn’t know that, actually,” Keith commented. “We’d talk shop all the time back when we shared a room in the barracks.”

“I think the circumstances of his work now are a bit different,” Adam reminded him. “I know that if I was running an operation like this one, I’d certainly not want to think about it as much as possible when off duty. Anyway, I don’t think I had the chance to congratulate you on yesterday’s test run. I hope you and Lance work well together.”

“There are some things to get figured out, but I think we’ll do just fine.”

They continued to talk for several more minutes before the sound of the door opening made them pause. 

“Sorry!” Shiro’s voice said from behind Keith as the door clicked shut. “The Secretary had something urgent to tell me about that couldn’t wait.” He dropped a hand onto Keith’s head as he walked up behind him, making him duck down and slap it away. “How are you feeling, Keith?”

“Fine,” he replied. “Still a little tired, but I guess that there wasn’t much else to be expected since it had been so long.”

“And how’s the hangover?” Shiro’s voice was knowing, and Keith wondered for a brief second just how much he knew about the party the night before.

“Didn’t really have much of one, to be honest.”

“Really? I’m impressed.” He came around behind Keith and sat on the sofa beside Adam. “That group has a tendency go at it pretty hard when they decided to have a party. I’m usually lucky if something doesn’t get broken or blown up.”

“Maybe they were trying not to scare me off, then,” Keith commented. “We just played beer pong and ate a bunch of pizza and something from Samoa that Hunk made and said was great for parties. I can’t remember the name right now, but it was good.”

“Is that why Lance came out of nowhere demanding to know your favorite kind of pizza yesterday?” Adam asked Keith, and Shiro nodded. “The face he made when he was told it was pineapple was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.”

“You should have seen him when he took a bite,” Keith replied. “He said he’d never eat anything I gave him ever again.”

“It was very thoughtful of him,” Shiro commented. “How are you two getting along?”

“Fine, I think.” He took another sip of beer before continuing. “We spent most of today watching movies after he found out that I don’t watch them that often. I think I’ve landed myself in the middle of a multi-day affair, though.”

“He does a lot of that in his free time, if I remember correctly. How are you otherwise?”

“Like I said, fine. There was something he picked up on while we were in the drift that he’s hooked on, but I don’t know what it is and he won’t tell me.”

“He won’t? That’s odd.”

“It was something to do with when I pulled him back from following the rabbit,” Keith continued, not catching a look shared between his brother and Adam. “I think Pidge knows, but they were being vague. Saying things about there being theories that our partners can sometimes see things in our minds that we don’t know or understand yet. They were drunk, but still. I don’t know. We all know that I’m not the best at these kinds of things.”

“Lance is usually pretty blunt,” Shiro commented. “I’m surprised that he’s not just coming out and saying it outright if there’s something on his mind.”

“He was pretty damn blunt when he told me that he thought my eyes were beautiful. When he was drunk last night and when he was sober just a few hours ago.” That made Shiro raise his eyebrows a bit, and this time Keith was paying enough attention to see the look he and Adam exchanged.

“Keith,” Shiro murmured, “I can’t put words into your mouth, but think about the interactions you’ve had with Lance. Both before and after the drift. Connect the dots and see what they form.”

Keith sighed through his nose as he cocked his head just slightly to one side, looking away from his brother and Adam as he started taking stock of everything that had happened between him and Lance since they’d met a few days ago. Things had started out awkwardly between them, beginning with Lance’s initial comment that he and Shiro didn’t look related. It had seemed to go downhill from there, with Lance’s comments on his appearance and criticisms when he’d been reacquainting himself with the quarterstaff the day before their compatibility test. But then, after Kamikaze attacked, and Keith apologized for the shower incident, Lance had seemed to warm up a bit. 

Hunk had helped him with a few of his misgivings the morning after that, explaining that Lance had actually admired him and Shiro for a while, while accidentally emphasizing that it was mostly him. It had made Keith decide that he wanted to get to know Lance better. Not just because he wanted to be back in the “pilot’s seat” of a jaeger, but from a genuine desire to know more about him aside from the fact that he was very attractive. That had only grown after their match. He hadn’t been able to really see it outside of the ring, but after their fight, Keith could finally understand why Shiro believed that the two of them were compatible.

Beyond all of that, there were the things that Lance had done for him since their match. The lotion, admitting that he admired Keith and had photos, the pineapple pizza. And it wasn’t one-sided. He’d done things for Lance as well, like taking him back to his room after the party and attempting to do his skin care stuff.

“While you try to figure out this puzzle, why don’t we eat?” Adam suggested, pulling Keith from his thoughts. He put his tablet down on the table beside him and walked to the kitchen.

“Some things just need to be thought out,” Shiro chided, getting up to go help him. Keith stayed in the chair, idly watching Shiro and Adam interact as he continued to think about Lance.

Adam was feeding Shiro a spoonful of whatever was in the pot, laughing as Shiro ate it without a second thought and then started making faces as he realized how hot it was. When Shiro finally swallowed it, he murmured something to Adam, who hugged him. Even when they argued, they always made up and worked to accommodate each other. They did nice things for each other, even if it was inconvenient and they had to go out of their way to do it. And…Oh.

“We’ve only known each other for like four days!” Keith suddenly said aloud. “I don’t understand…how can he…what?”

“Four days is almost nothing for jaeger pilots,” Shiro told him from the kitchen, smiling as Adam handed him something with the smallest of frowns on his face. “Especially with one as strong as yours seems to be. You’ve seen some of the deepest parts of each other, as you well know. An hour in the drift is like a lifetime of getting to know your partner.”

“But…how can he know how he feels about me already when I have no idea if I feel that way about him?” Okay, that wasn’t entirely the truth, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to admit it to anyone. Even his brother. Not until he was completely sure. 

“Keith, I know you better than that,” Shiro told him, a knowing expression on his face as he carried two bowls to the table. He set them down before gesturing for Keith to get up and come eat. 

“You wouldn’t be having this mental crisis if you didn’t have some idea of how you feel,” Adam added in. Keith got up as he spoke and came to sit down at the table. “Besides, you’ve got it easy. Being able to dive into the mind of someone and know how they feel about you and how you feel about them. Thousands of people would kill for that. I know I would have when I first started to realize how I felt about Shiro.”

“There’s nothing wrong with taking the normal route,” Shiro reminded him, sitting down and taking Adam’s hand in his. “We got there eventually.”

They were right and Keith knew it. This was why he’d wanted to come talk to them. Well, he’d wanted to talk to Shiro, but Adam had been really helpful as well. There was no real other explanation to why he was so bothered by it all than that he had feelings that he wasn’t acknowledging. If he didn’t care at all, then everything that had happened between Lance wouldn’t matter so much. Well, they would, but not in the same way. Having a co-pilot that you trusted and would die for was one thing. It was a completely different thing to have a co-pilot that you trusted, would die for, and had more-than-a-friend feelings for. He’d seen it before, in Alfor and Coran, as well as other teams of co-pilots that he’d met, and he felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

“Thanks,” he murmured. “I mean it. I’m no good at this kind of thing.”

“Like I said before, sometimes it needs to be talked out,” Shiro told him. “We’re always here to help. Just make sure that you’re careful about it and don’t start something that’ll cause me problems.”

“He’s got enough of those already,” Adam chimed in. “Now, I made chili and Shiro tried some and didn’t die, so let’s eat.” Shiro and Keith both rolled their eyes as he said it, and they all started eating. Keith was pleasantly surprised, especially since the last time he’d eaten anything Adam had made, it was a muffin that had somehow come out harder than a rock.

After half an hour or so of eating and talking, with Keith going back for seconds, he and Shiro started working on cleaning up the dishes.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Shiro asked him, passing over a rinsed plate for him to dry. Keith took it and started wiping it down with the dishtowel in his hands. 

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “It’s not like I can just walk back to the barracks and say holy shit I think I might in love with you.” Shiro had called his bluff, so there was no pointing in hiding it.

“Why not?” Adam called from the couch. “It works in all those stupid movies.”

“Shut up, Adam!” Keith yelled back.

“Just trying to help!”

“Seriously, though,” Keith said, quietly so that only Shiro could really hear him. “I don’t know what to do. I can barely tell when he’s flirting, so I doubt I’d be any good at flirting back. And I sure as hell am not just going to walk up to him and do something crazy.”

“You know I’m an advocate for not letting everything be said in the drift,” Shiro told him, “but this might be the time to make an exception. At least until you feel like you can tell him face to face. Think about the things he’s done for you and try to think of things that you can do in return that might tell him that you’re catching on.”

Keith nodded as they continued doing the dishes, and once the bowls were finished, he helped put the extra chili into some glass containers. He picked up one and held it up towards Adam.

“Mind if I take one of these?” he asked. “This is good stuff.”

“Just make sure that you bring back the container,” Adam replied.

“It’s a promise,” Keith told him. “I’m going to head back. I think Lance wanted to watch one more movie. Maybe two.”

“Are you going to go kiss him?” Adam asked, a good natured grin on his face. Keith picked up a napkin off the table and threw it at him, making him laugh.

“Well, unless something urgent comes up, you’ve got my permission to take it easy for a bit,” Shiro told him. “If we’re lucky, there won’t be another attack for a few more days.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” he replied, giving his brother a quick one-armed hug before going to the door and leaving. 

Ten minutes later, he strolled into the common room to put the chili into the fridge. He’d stopped by his room to put a piece of tape on the lid and write his name on it, just to make sure that no one else stole it. Or at least, he hoped it would help. It hadn’t always worked before, but he could at least make the effort. So, with the tape label in place, he opened up the fridge and sat the container on one of the less crowded shelves. Glancing at the other contents, he grabbed one of the beers that had been put inside after last night and went back to the sofa. 

Lance wasn’t back yet, but he’d left his laptop on the table and Keith had to resist the urge to pick it up as he sat down on the couch. It wasn’t like he’d know the password, but still. Instead, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through it, clicking on the occasional news article. He noticed that the PPCD had been quick to release a statement about the reactivation of Lion’s Roar, and the article featured pictures of both Lance and Keith. Both of them were old, but Keith knew that at least in his case, he hadn’t had an official photo taken in at least 2 years. Probably longer if he thought about it.

The sound of footsteps out in the hallway make him stretch his neck a bit to look over his shoulder and the back of the sofa, and he smiled as he saw Lance wander in. He watched as the other ranger’s face seemed to almost light up when he spotted Keith.

“There you are!” he said. “I was starting to think you’d gotten yourself lost or something.”

“Been here for a little while,” Keith replied, eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry that it took so long. I helped do dishes after we ate.”

“Aw man, you got home cooked food? So lucky.” Lance picked up his laptop before flopping onto the couch.

“I was surprised too,” he told him, watching as he started queuing up the next movie on the list. “Adam’s never been a good cook, but I guess he decided that he wanted to practice. If tonight’s chili was any indication, he’s made a big improvement.”

“He should go to Hunk if he wants cooking lessons,” Lance murmured. 

“If Hunk offers, I’ll be sure to tell him,” Keith commented. “So what’s next?”

“Iron Man,” Lance informed him, leaning forward to put his laptop down again after pressing play. “Iron Man 2 if you’re game to keep going after this one.”

“Unless I’m falling asleep, I’ll probably be good.”

“Excellent!”

They both settled in again, Keith finding himself in position of less of the blanket than before. He tugged at his end a bit, trying to get Lance to relinquish even a just a little of it. Instead of that, however, Lance scooted closer. That was one solution he supposed as he realized that he’d only have to reach across a couple of inches to touch him now.

About halfway through the movie, Keith suddenly roused from dozing, which he hadn’t even realized he’d been doing until he noticed that the scene on the screen was entirely different from the one he remembered seeing last. It wasn’t the movie that had woken him, however, it was Lance’s head settling onto his shoulder. He wasn’t sure when he’d closed the last few inches of distance between them, but he had, and now Lance’s hair was tickling the end of his ear.

“Comfy?” Keith asked quietly. Lance only shooshed him at first, but gave a soft grunt of confirmation after a few seconds. 

He noticed a little while later that he was still idly holding onto his beer bottle from before, and gave it a gently shake to see if there was anything left in it. He was met with the soft sound of sloshing liquid, and he lifted the bottle to his lips to drain the last of it into his mouth. Left with an empty bottle, he shifted and leaned forward to put it down on the table. Lance complained immediately as he was dislodged from where he’d settled. When Keith looked back at him, he was met with a half-hearted glare, and he rolled his eyes, letting out a breath of laughter as he leaned back into the sofa. Lance immediately shifted to rest against him again. He pulled the blanket back over the both of them, having dislodged it when he moved, and started to let his head fall to rest against Lance’s. He stopped himself at the last moment, suddenly questioning himself, but he thought about what Shiro had said about finding ways to reciprocate Lance’s feelings. This was one of those chances. So he took a slow breath and let his head fall gently against the other man’s. Lance started just slightly, and Keith almost jerked his head back up, but then he relaxed with a soft sigh. Feeling relieved, Keith slowly relaxed as well and they both shifted just slightly to get more comfortable. 

He was almost annoyed when the movie ended, knowing that it meant they’d have to move again. When Lance shifted against him, he picked his head up and let the other man shift into a more upright position.

“Feeling up to the next one?” Lance asked, and Keith nodded. It was less about the movie than it was spending time with Lance, but he wasn’t going to say anything about that. Not yet at least. “I think this’ll be it for tonight.”

“That’s fine,” Keith told him. “I need to get back onto my workout routine, so a decent night’s sleep is important. “

“Yes, because missing one night is so catastrophic,” Lance teased. Keith elbowed him gently, and he feigned being stabbed before collapsing on his side, holding the place dramatically. “Oh, I’ve been slain! Betrayed by my own partner!”

Keith reached forward and poked him again, just under where Lance holding, and he yelped slightly. His eyebrows went up in surprise and he did it again, earning another yelp. “Quit! That tickles!” Lance’s eyes went wide as he saw traces of mischief cross Keith’s face. “Oh, no you don’t.” 

He scrambled to his feet, backing away from Keith, holding a pillow out in front of him as a shield. Keith narrowed his eyes and lurched forward just a bit, and Lance backed away several more steps. He started laughing as the back of Lance’s knees hit the back of the other couch and he fell backwards onto it. 

“Are you alright over there?” Keith asked, relaxing as he dropped back down into his place on the sofa. “Have you died?”

“I’m dying,” Lance declared. “You’ve killed me. The world will never know my genius.” Keith rolled his eyes as his partner slowly sat up and looked at Keith with a wary gaze. 

“You can come back, you know,” Keith told him. “I won’t tickle you again.”

“Swear it,” Lance told him. “Swear it on…I don’t know, just swear it.”

“I swear that I will not tickle you again,” Keith said, putting on the most solemn voice he could manage. “He lifted the blanket up to uncover Lance’s spot, where the couch was still indented, trying to look inviting. Lance started at him suspiciously as he slowly edged off the other couch and came back toward Keith. He paused to hit play on Iron Man 2, but sat down again and quickly huddled up close to Keith. “See? Man of my word.”

“Hmph,” Lance breathed out as he put his head back on Keith’s shoulder, making him laugh softly. 

He didn’t know when it was that he dozed off, but he woke to Lance shifting beside him and lifted his head as he yawned. Lifting one hand to rub at his eyes, he frowned as he looked at the screen and realized that he had no idea what was going on at all. The large number of explosions he saw implied that it was almost the end of the movie.

“Rise and shine,” Lance murmured, head still resting on his shoulder. There was laughter in his voice and Keith frowned. “I’d scold you for missing most of the movie, but if there was one to sleep through, this would probably be it. This and the Incredible Hulk.”

“Sorry,” Keith murmured, but the last syllable turned into another yawn. 

“Can you make it through another ten minutes, you think? That’s about all that’s left.”

“I can try.”

Keith kept his head upright for the remainder of the movie, watching with only half-interest since he’d missed just about everything in between the first 20 minutes and now. He got the gist at least, and he figured that that was what mattered. He felt a bit bad about falling asleep, but he knew it wasn’t out of boredom. He was just tired. 

When the credits rolled, Lance leaned toward his laptop and fast forwarded to the end credits scenes so they wouldn’t have to sit through the entirety of the credits. Keith rolled his neck a couple of times once there was no longer a weight on his shoulder and stood up to stretch. 

“Do you want to pick this up tomorrow?” he asked Lance, who held up a finger telling him to wait and then pointed at the screen. Keith looked back at the television with a soft sigh as the last two short scenes played. He failed to hold back another yawn when Lance finally closed his laptop.

“After breakfast?” Lance suggested, and Keith nodded. He turned to fold the blanket they’d been using and left it sitting on the sofa as Lance collected his laptop and made for the door. Keith picked up his empty bottle and took it to the recycling bin in the kitchen area before following Lance out into the hallway. They hadn’t seen any of the other rangers since Lance had come back, and the hallway was still empty. 

“Hunk never did come back,” Keith commented.

“I think Pidge either told him to leave us alone or dragged him away to help them with their battery,” Lance replied. “Possibly both. Pidge isn’t the type with singular motives.”

“I could sort of see that. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see you in the gym in the morning.” He paused as they reached his door, and Lance stopped and turned back after he’d gone another few feet.

“Don’t forget your lotion,” he told Keith, who smiled good-naturedly and nodded.

“Goodnight, Lance,” he said.

“Night, Keith.” 

Keith went inside his room, closing the door softly behind him. Waking up from his unintended nap had left him feeling more tired than he realized he was, and he yawned again as he went to the sink to do what Lance had told him. Ten minutes later, he was in bed with brushed teeth and a moisturized face, and was crashing fast.

When he woke in the morning, it was just after 5, and he rolled back over to get at least a few more minutes of rest before starting the day. A glance at his phone told him that it was raining outside, and he groaned in annoyance. He’d wanted to go for a run outside, but the rain definitely put a damper on that. At the same time, the treadmill got mundane after a while. Resolving to not let the weather get in the way of his plans, he sat up and got out of bed. He changed into his running clothes and brushed his teeth and hair before leaving his room. 

Instead of heading for the gym, he jogged to the hangar instead. With most of the shatterdome still asleep, the massive space was silent and empty except for the three jaegers standing at the ready in their respective bays. With the main doors still closed, Keith went to one of the smaller side entrances. He stopped and stretched for a few minutes before opening the door to the rain. It wasn’t pouring, at least, and he cracked his neck with two quick movements before stepping out into it and letting the door close behind him.

He paused long enough beneath the cover that kept the door dry to choose a direction before turning to his right and stepping out into the rain. It was only a matter of minutes before he was soaked as he ran along the outside of the shatterdome, intending to do two laps around the entire thing. It crossed his mind that he should have brought a towel to leave just inside the hangar for when he got back, but it was far too late for that and he just kept running. The base was huge, and by the time he reached the door after finishing his second lap, he figured it had to have been a solid hour or so. 

Pushing the door open, Keith stepped inside and shook his head a couple of times to try to get at least a little bit of the water out of his hair. It didn’t do much good though, and he frowned when it just ended up plastered nearly sideways across his forehead. He ran his hand through it a couple of times, pushing the wet strands up and out of his face, satisfied once it stopped falling into his eyes. His shirt and pants were absolutely dripping as he stood beside the door, and he pulled the shirt off before wringing it out. He hoped that no one would question the small puddle left by the door as he swung the soaked garment over his shoulder in lieu of putting it back on, and started walking back to the barracks to shower. He already felt the chill on his skin from the rain and wanted to get warm again as quickly as possible.

It was still fairly early in the morning, but he got understandably strange looks from the few people who were in the halls. A glance behind him showed that his pants were dripping onto the ground, so if anyone was trying to figure out who the hell was tracking water through the base, they’d find him easily enough. As he passed the hallway leading to the gym and training mats, a shocked voice yelled out and caught his attention. 

“Keith, what the absolute fuck!?” It was Lance’s voice, and it brought him to a stop. He looked to his left to see the other ranger walking towards him, eyes wide with shock and confusion. Suddenly, he found himself remembering that he said he’d see Lance in the gym, but Lance didn’t sound mad. Just confused.

“It’s raining,” he said simply, and Lance threw his hands in the air, letting out an exasperated sound. 

“Yeah, no shit! What were you doing out in it? Trying to drown yourself?”

“Uh…no? I wanted to go for a run, that’s all,” he tried to explain, realizing that it really wasn’t much of one after he’d said it. But he was very aware of Lance’s eyes on him, and he was suddenly much more aware of the fact that he was still not wearing a shirt. Said shirt was still slung over his shoulders and dripping water down his back and chest.

“In the rain.” Lance still sounded dumbfounded, and Keith found himself wanting to know if he simply couldn’t believe that he’d gone running around in the rain or if it was because he was walking around soaking wet without a shirt on.

“Well, I didn’t think it was raining as much as it actually was.” Lance put his head up to his face, shaking his head as his fingers pressed into his forehead and cheek. He looked up at Keith for a couple of seconds before dropping back into the same position. 

“You are…unbelievable,” he finally said. “Seriously. What sane human being knows it’s raining cats and dogs and still goes out and runs in it?”

“Me, I guess. It’s not like I’ve never done it before, and there are tons of people who go for rain runs all the time.”

“Not when it’s fifty degrees or less!” Lance’s voice edged into a yell, and Keith flinched just slightly. “Have you not even noticed that you’re shaking?”

“I mean, I know it’s cold. I was heading back to shower,” Keith murmured. He glanced down at the ground and noticed the small puddle accumulating at his feet now that he was stationary. He looked back up to see Lance just staring at him. “What?”

“You are a menace. A completely self-unaware menace,” Lance muttered. It was mostly to himself, but Keith heard him anyway. 

“It’s really not that big of a deal.”

“Walking through the entire shatterdome soaking wet and shirtless isn’t a big deal? Like that’s just some casual thing that normal people do?” Lance paused, putting his head in his hands again for several more seconds. “Just…just go take a hot shower before you catch your death. Jesus.”

The thought that Lance could warm him up crossed Keith’s mind, and he had to clench his teeth to keep it from escaping his mouth. So, instead of responding, he just nodded and turned away from Lance to keep going to the barracks. He knew his co-pilot was walking behind him, and he felt his eyes on him the whole way to his room, where he pulled a hangar from the closet to put his soaked shirt on. He hung it near the heater to help it dry a little faster before stripping off his soaked pants and the rest of his clothes and doing the same with them. 

Keith debated just putting on his clean clothes to go to the showers, but decided against it and instead wrapped his towel around his waist before grabbing his shower kit and the set of clean clothes. He just hoped that he could get the twenty feet to the showers and into a stall before anyone else saw him. Not that Lance didn’t go to and from the shower in his towel, but still. He’d gotten the impression that maybe Lance didn’t like the fact that he’d gone shirtless back from the hangar. And while his co-pilot had fussed at him about getting sick from the cold, he was pretty sure his issue wasn’t entirely to do with that.

Keith stuck his head out the door first to see if the coast was clear before slipping out and letting his door slam behind him as he walked to the showers as quickly as he could without the towel loosening too much. As it was, he had to catch it as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. He’d been quick about getting out of his wet clothes when he went back to his room, so he’d beaten Lance. Which he was grateful for because he could now feel himself shivering as he stepped into a stall and reached past the sliding door to turn on the water. He dropped his dry clothes and shower kit on the dry bench before hanging his towel on the hook above it and stepping under the water as soon as it got hot.

He audibly sighed as the hot water soaked his skin, quickly warming every place that it hit, and he closed his eyes as he turned his face towards the spray. He ran his hands though his cold, still damp hair to let the hot water chase away the chill. He reached through the sliding door to grab his shampoo and soap, quickly shutting it again to keep the heat in as much as possible. 

He was working shampoo into his hair when he heard the squeak of the door to the showers opening, followed quickly by the telltale singing that told him hit was Lance. Usually he could catch most of the words, even if it was a song he didn’t know, but today the words were flying out of the other man’s lips faster than he could process them. Keith realized belatedly that he was rapping, and he was doing it damn well. Over the noise of both his shower and the second one that quickly turned on, he could only catch the occasional word that Lance seemed to stress in particular. 

“And if I’m fake, I ain’t notice ‘cause my money ain’t”

The words faded out a bit as Keith stuck his head under the water to rinse the shampoo out of his hair, but Lance’s voice got louder and aggressive enough for him to hear it over the water.

“Yea, my money’s so tall that my Barbies got to climb it  
Hotter than a Middle Eastern climate, violent  
Tony Matterhorn, “Dutty Wine” it, wylin’  
Nicki on them titties when I sign it  
That’s how these fuckas so one-track-minded  
But really, really I don’t give a F-U-C-K”

Lance’s voice faded again, still audible, but faint until there a sudden burst of volume as he all but shouted “but my pockets eating cheesecake,” and Keith’s heart felt like it skipped a beat at the growl in his voice. This wasn’t fair.

“Pink wig, thick ass, give ‘em whiplash  
I think big, get cash, make ‘em blink fast  
Now look at what you just saw, this is what you live for  
Aaaah, I’m a motherfucking monster!”

Lance didn’t all out yell the last line, but it was close and Keith heard it echo off the tile walls as he picked up his soap. He was still singing, but Keith couldn’t really hear the words anymore as he finished soaping up and put both the bar and his bottle of shampoo back out in his shower kit. Once he finished rinsing off, he shut the water off and reached out the door to grab his towel off the hook. He dried himself off and started putting on his clothes as Lance started singing a new song. It was another one that he didn’t recognize, but it seemed like pop and he found himself wondering what the song sounded like with the music. 

Dressed and with his towel thrown over one shoulder, he stepped out of his stall and made for the door. He paused just before he opened it and lifted his hands to clap them together a couple of times. Lance stopped immediately, and there was a second’s pause before there was any response.

“Thank you, I’ll be here all year!” he called, and Keith laughed softly before leaving and going back to his room. He left again for the mess hall not long after for breakfast, where he was eventually joined by Lance and the others. Lance told them all about how Keith had gone running in the rain, but he just shrugged. He did notice that his partner did not mention his lack of a shirt when they’d run into each other, even though he’d seemed to have been so hung up on it before. 

After everyone had eaten, Keith was all but dragged off to the common room so they could keep watching Marvel movies. Pidge and Hunk settled in with them, but only stayed for the first one before going to keep working on Pidge’s battery. They wouldn’t give any real progress report on it, but Keith figured they had to be making some if there hadn’t been an explosion in the last two days. Their luck would run out eventually, but the peace and quiet was nice for the time being.

While Lance queued up their second movie of the day, Keith got up to go find a snack in the cabinets. Finding a bag of chips on one of the communal shelves, leftover from the party, he guessed, he started pouring some into a large-ish bowl so he and Lance could share if they wanted to. Looking up at the back of Lance’s head, he found himself wondering about what had bothered Lance so much about his run that morning.

“Hey, Lance?” he asked. Shiro always said that co-pilots still had to use words, and he wasn’t going to get any answers from wondering about it.

“Yeah?” Lance called over his shoulder, looking away from his laptop screen just long enough to answer.

“Were you really that bothered by me running in the rain?” He asked the question as he walked back to the sofa, chip bowl in hand. 

“Huh? Oh…well…yeah. It’s like 50 degrees outside and you made the bone-headed decision to go running in in the rain,” Lance replied, glancing at Keith as he sat back down. “That’s how people get sick.”

“Is that all that was bothering you? I am an adult, you know. I got warm as quickly as possible, despite being stopped by someone.” He emphasized the last word, giving Lance a gently nudge on the shoulder.

“Yeah, that was it. One hundred percent.”

“So, it had nothing to do with the fact that I was walking through the base partially unclothed?”

“Nope.” Keith raised an eyebrow as Lance refused to make eye contact.

“What happened to being honest with each other?” He said it lightly, making sure that he wasn’t sounding accusatory. That was the absolute last thing he wanted.

Lance turned away and looked at him, blue eyes meeting Keith’s. He held his gaze on Keith for several long moments before he sighed.

“Alright, fine. It was making me feel a little jealous. But like, come on, man. Have you seen yourself? No one would ever think that you’ve been gone for two years with how damn good you look. And then you go wandering around the shatterdome, soaked from head to toe, and not even bothering with wearing your fucking shirt.”

“But why would that make you jealous? I mean, it’s not like you aren’t fit. I saw you on day one and you look pretty damn good yourself.” Keith knew good and well that that wasn’t the reason Lance was jealous, but he wanted some kind of confirmation of the revelation he’d had the night before. Before he did something stupid.

“That’s not…I’m not jealous of your body,” Lance said quickly, flushing slightly. “I just…look, do you really need me to spell it out for you?” Keith just looked at him, and Lance tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling, letting out a long groan as he did. After several seconds of silence, he inhaled slowly, never taking his eyes off the ceiling.

“Fine,” he breathed out. “I was jealous because you were just walking around, letting anyone in the vicinity just get a good eyeful of…of…you. You’ve never even been shirtless in the gym. At least not that I’m aware of. But then you just go strolling through the base like that, water just dripping out of your hair and rolling down your body. Ugh…I’m saying way too much. I sound like an idiot right now.”

“No, you don’t,” Keith told him softly. “At least, I don’t think you do.”

“But you’re an idiot,” Lance shot back. “In your own right.” Keith just shrugged. It was a fair point. There were plenty of things he was clueless about. “Can we just…get back to the movies?”

“Of course,” Keith murmured. Lance sighed and hit play on the next movie before settling back onto the sofa, pulling his half of the blanket back over himself. Keith turned his head to look at him, considering his face for a moment. “Just so you know, I wasn’t trying to mess with you or make you jealous. My shirt was just soaked and I thought it would be better to just take it off.”

“I realize that now,” Lance grumbled. “I just hope that you know how much you looked like something out of a movie or something. Those romance ones where the guys always just stroll around half naked for no reason at all after taking a shower. Actually, no. More like James Bond after he goes swimming, minus the very short swim trunks.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Keith told him. He’d seen a couple of James Bond films with Shiro and his family, but nothing recent and he couldn’t remember if any of the few that he had seen had featured a post-swimming Bond.

“Let’s get you through Marvel before we tackle James Bond,” Lance replied. “And if I come up with a better example, I’ll tell you. Now be quiet and watch Thor. You’ll like this one.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but turned his attention back to the screen as Lance’s settled his head on his shoulder once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking this will finish at 10 chapters, but I won't change the numbers on here until I'm sure. Thank you for reading and I hope you'll look forward to the next chapter!


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